Another step forward — Bush’s energy forecast bodes well for CTL
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
http://www.bdtonline.com/editorials/local_story_024173441.html
The declaration by President Bush to curtail the nation’s dependency on foreign oil and seek alternative energy sources could be good news to the two Virginias.
Both states — particularly the southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia areas — have been actively pursuing the development of coal-to-liquid technology, with the hopes of locating one or more such plants in the region.
Coal-to-liquid refers to the process of turning coal into fuel — a process developed by German scientists in 1925, and used to fuel Nazi tanks and airplanes during World War II. At peak production in 1944, Germany had 25 liquefaction plants that produced more than 124,000 barrels daily and met 90 percent of the nation’s needs, according to National Mining Association reports.
Due to apartheid-related embargoes, South Africa also began utilizing CTL technology decades ago. Since the early 1980s, a commercial company there has produced more than 700 million barrels of synthetic fuels from coal, and about 85 percent of the coal consumed in the country is used as fuel feedstock or to produce electricity, the Mining Association reports.
But while fueling a nation using coal-to-liquid technology is a realistic goal, the technology has not been widely embraced in the U.S. until recent spikes in oil prices.
Department of Energy numbers indicate CTL technology is not economically feasible unless the price of crude oil is $40 a barrel of higher, the Daily Telegraph reported in a 2006 series on the issue. Also, CTL plants are not cheap to build, with some estimating constructions costs could run up to a billion dollars. But last year, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, R-Va., and other officials across the Mountain State and Commonwealth began actively pursuing the development of this technology.
Now, President Bush’s comments in his State of the Union address Tuesday night indicate the federal government may back the two states’ initiatives.
“Extending hope and opportunity depends on a stable supply of energy that keeps America’s economy running and America’s environment clean,” Bush said. “For too long, our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments ... raise the price of oil ... and do great harm to our economy.
“It is in our vital interest to diversify America’s energy supply, and the way forward is through technology,” Bush said, also citing the need for a greater use of clean coal technology, solar and wind energy, “clean, safe nuclear power,” and a continued push for hybrid vehicles as well as investment in new methods of producing ethanol.
The president also emphasized the need to reduce our energy consumption, setting a goal to reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next 10 years.
We agree that alternative energy sources are crucial to America’s future, and we believe coal-to-liquid technology is a viable option in making the U.S. energy independent. We hope the president was sincere in his call to diversify the nation’s fuel supply, and will continue to show his support for such technology.
Such new energy endeavors could prove to be the silver lining in the economic storm clouds that have been hovering over our region for far too long.
|
Thread abonnieren
