Underground Coal Gasification Feasibility Report

[Permanently_Baffled]

http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/coal/cfft/ ... report.pdf

Found this on the DTI website, looks like the government are looking at underground coal gasification. The report suggests that environmental concerns can be addressed at an effective cost. The report seems to suggest this has substantial potential in the UK. Gas produced via this method could produce as much electricity as conventional coal power stations(about 20% of UK power needs currently). It also mentions that power from this source could last decades if not centuries.

The report also mentions this technology could be used to produce not only gas but also hydrogen in the US. It also says Japan has substantial offshore reserves of coal which they would be interested in developing for a supply of gas and hydrogen.

If the environmental side can be sorted(carbon capture) , has this got potential?

PB

[Laurasia]

Hello Permanently Baffled: I have heard mention of this process before; in fact, Senator Kerry's website mentions this as part of his answer to the concept of breaking free of the dependence on foreign oil. I believe the process involves a lot of heat, possibly in the form of steam, being introduced into the coal seam itself. One of the things that niggles at me is "what is going to generate the heat to make the steam?" The second thing that bothers me is that it seems rather dangerous (understatement). I grew up in County Durham (colliery country), and coal fires kept me warm in my childhood. Once that coal got heated up, the oil would be released and there'd be a mini-explosion of flame. I think I'm sort of imagining that on a giant scale down a coal mine. Not good!

I suppose it would work to ease the transition away from oil, and perhaps together with wind and solar, it might help UK have a soft landing. I'm just so afraid that people will not internalize the fact that there really is no substitute for oil, and that any alternative measures should be viewed merely as stopgaps and not as bona fide replacements. Otherwise they will just think it's business as usual.

Anyway just my two cents... It's nice to be on a forum where people have their "oil-antennas" out all the time, zeroing in on important news like this, so people like me can come along and try to understand.

Regards,

L.

[airstrip1]

As a schoolboy in the UK during the 1970's I remember my geography teacher telling the class that during the drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea they had also discovered massive coal seams over forty foot thick. At the time this was four times as wide as Britains biggest onshore deposit near Selby in Yorkshire. At the time he said that there was no current means of utilising these enormous energy reserves. Now that peak oil is now starting to look imminent peoples attention is starting to focus on this issue again. Unfortunately, due to the butchery of the coal industry in the Thatcher years much of the expertise in this area has been lost. We are going to going to have to pay for the waste of those years the hard way.

[Kingcoal]

Manufactured Coal Gas was the original natural gas that lit the street lamps of Europe and the New World in the 1800s. The gas was produced locally at the "Gas House" and sent to street lamps, rich peoples houses, etc. There was no storage that I know of. The realestate was generally cheap around the Gas House due to the less than pleasant aroma.

http://www.heritageresearch.com/manufactured_gas_index.htm