Professor Alan Goldman and his Rutgers team in collaboration with researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a way to convert carbon sources, such as coal to diesel fuel.

This important advance could significantly cut America's dependence on foreign oil -- what President Bush called "an addiction" in his 2006 State of the Union address. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, our 286 billion tons of coal in the ground translate into energy reserves 40 times those of oil.

Goldman explained that the breakthrough technology employs a pair of catalytic chemical reactions that operate in tandem, one of which captured the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This dynamic chemical duo revamps the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process for generating synthetic petroleum substitutes, invented in 1920 but never developed to the point of becoming commercially viable for coal conversion.

The FT process recently gained national attention through the efforts of Brian Schweitzer, governor of coal-rich Montana, who has been publicly extolling the potential of Fischer-Tropsch. The Goldman group's innovations eliminate shortcomings in the process that can finally make it a workable solution to dwindling domestic oil reserves.

Fischer-Tropsch yields a wide distribution of molecular weight hydrocarbon products but without any way to control the desired mix. The molecular weight is the weight of a molecule of a substance, or the sum of the weights of all atoms in the molecule. The low-weight and the high-weight Fischer-Tropsch products are useful -- the light as gas and the medium-heavy as diesel fuel, Goldman explained.

"The problem -- the greatest inefficiency of the process -- is that you also wind up with a substantial quantity of medium-weight products that are not useful and you are stuck with them," Goldman said. "What we are now able to do with our new catalysts is something no one else has done before. We take all these undesirable medium-weight substances and convert them to the useful higher- and lower-weight products."

Technically, this is accomplished by a catalyst that removes hydrogen from the molecules. This converts the hydrocarbons to olefins, products with double bonds which are necessary for the creation of the desirable, useful end-products. The beauty of the new process is that it is highly selective in which hydrogen atoms it removes from the hydrocarbons, channeling the reactions to produce specific, useful products.

The researchers combined this process with the action of a second catalyst, one which promotes olefin metathesis, for which the 2005 Nobel Prize was awarded. Metathesis means "to change places" and, here, the double-bonding atom groups change places with one another. Through this reaction, the second catalyst rearranges the molecular weight distribution of the olefins. The first catalyst then replaces the hydrogen atoms onto the new rearranged olefins; this returns the olefins back to their original hydrocarbon form, but now with a new, more desirable weight distribution.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060414014526.htm

4/14/2006 12:48:57 PM

Sweet.

4/14/2006 12:59:00 PM

awesome...hope it is doable in the $$ sense

4/14/2006 1:04:56 PM

We'll find something. Nonetheless, good news.

Come on carolina fags, keep researchin

4/14/2006 1:06:39 PM

Whatever happened to that TDP process that was suppose to turn almost anything in to oil?

I bet we don't see anything from this.

4/14/2006 1:15:36 PM

alchemy?

4/14/2006 1:16:37 PM

thermal depolymerization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization

4/14/2006 3:36:19 PM

totally alchemy, DG.

4/14/2006 4:01:15 PM

greeeaaaaat. we go from one non-renewable, non-sustainable resource to another.

4/14/2006 6:38:13 PM

yep, but we have an assload of coal

so we would be independent for a bit

4/14/2006 6:57:02 PM

we had an assload of oil a hundred years ago too...

4/14/2006 7:14:29 PM

^we still have an assload of oil. The majority of it has been ruled off-limits by state and federal regulations.

clean coal motherfuckers!


Honestly, if you want to generate cheap electricity without fucking up the environment and paying terrorist-sponsoring countries for fuel, coal is one of the only ways to do it.

[Edited on April 14, 2006 at 7:19 PM. Reason : 2]

4/14/2006 7:18:00 PM

- cool, but we should definitely keep working on sustainable fuels

- are we anywhere near figuring out a way to extract coal that doesn't involve people getting trapped in mines?

[Edited on April 14, 2006 at 7:34 PM. Reason : -]

4/14/2006 7:33:32 PM

are you seriously calling coal "clean?"

4/14/2006 7:46:49 PM

OMFG HEY GUYS I JUST DECIDED I WOULD POP IN FROM THE 1940s I HAVEN'T REALLY PAID MUCH ATTENTION TO WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE THEN!!11! LOL

/stalker00

4/14/2006 8:05:10 PM

^that was well done.

4/14/2006 8:13:02 PM

i'm sorry, but burning anything is hardly "clean." i don't put much stock in global warming and the like, but we still can't agree that burning oil non-stop is "good" for the environment

4/14/2006 8:18:33 PM

shut the fuck up

4/14/2006 8:19:34 PM

hahaha. classic. i own your ass and your only response is "shut the fuck up." I'll bet you would have been one of those cigarette company PR people swearing up and down that cigarettes are healthy for people

4/14/2006 8:22:04 PM

listen n00b, popping into a thread and spouting some shit everybody knows isn't fucking "owning" anyone.

so quit being a douche and shut the fuck up.

[Edited on April 14, 2006 at 8:44 PM. Reason : *]

4/14/2006 8:44:01 PM

do you have any idea how burning anything works?
did you know the process can be cleaner or dirtier depending upon the thing being burned and depending upon the technology used to burn it?

you seem better fit for:
http://thewolfweb.com/message_section.aspx?section=9

4/14/2006 8:48:01 PM

we should not be using coal or any other fossil fuel. Get away from them.

4/14/2006 9:00:53 PM

annz, expanding on "fuck you" doesn't prove anything.

amd revolt, I'm glad that I can burn some random thing "cleanly." now, prove to me that diesel can be burned "cleanly." dipshit

specifically, prove to me that all of these trucks flying down the road are "cleanly" burning diesel as they pour tons of black smoke into the air...

[Edited on April 14, 2006 at 9:16 PM. Reason : ]

4/14/2006 9:15:52 PM

i wish the trucking industry would switch to bio-diesel.

4/14/2006 9:19:24 PM

Why should we spend money on this instead of biodiesel or ethanol from agricultural sources?

The other thing is, even though there are substantial coal deposits in the US, we would probably end up finding somewhere cheaper to import it from and get ourselves in the same mess.

[Edited on April 14, 2006 at 9:32 PM. Reason : ?]

4/14/2006 9:31:01 PM

4/14/2006 9:32:59 PM

^^ nail --> head

4/14/2006 9:34:58 PM

Quote :

"I'll bet you would have been one of those cigarette company PR people swearing up and down that cigarettes are healthy for people"

ahaha now it all makes sense - we got ourselves a little high-school "truth ad" devotee on our hands

they're always at their cutest during this phase.

4/14/2006 9:35:45 PM

im pretty liberal and those "truth.com" ads make me want to puke.
im pretty sure an angel gets its wings everytime those people are told to go fuck themselves.

4/14/2006 9:37:22 PM

ahaha. I couldn't be any farther from a truth ad person. I'm about as conservative as they come. I just realize when someone is trying to shove bullshit down my throat.

4/15/2006 12:09:27 AM

http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/diesel.htm

They're making fossil fuels cleaner.

They're not long-term viable, no, but that's what research is for.

[Edited on April 15, 2006 at 1:12 AM. Reason : Just for the people bashing the idea of coal power and other energy sources...]

4/15/2006 1:12:15 AM

yeah, and maybe if we put that money elsewhere, we might find an energy source which is both clean and renewable and not controlled by a bunch of religious zealots looking for something to blow up

4/15/2006 2:07:16 AM

go back to your truth-ads

4/15/2006 7:54:22 AM

go back to your flat earthers

4/15/2006 9:24:48 AM

Quote :

"yeah, and maybe if we put that money elsewhere, we might find an energy source which is both clean and renewable and not controlled by a bunch of religious zealots looking for something to blow up"

No reason we can't research both, or all. What did you have in mind (I'm sure someone is working on it)?

4/15/2006 10:13:20 AM

Quote :

"No reason we can't research both, or all."

There is some truth to that, however there is only so much money to go around. The other thing is I've been hearing a lot more about coal conversion from political channels (Montana's governer) than through research channels. If we were going to research all these possibilities and then let them go in a fair market, that's one thing. But whatever happens will probably have more to do with what politicians and multinational corporations decide, rather than best solution technologically or environmentally. The root of the problem is that too many gas powered vehicles are out there.

4/15/2006 10:33:02 AM

I wonder how they're coming along with Zero-Point energy? I realize it's a bit Tesla, but if they succeed..wow!

Quote :

"The Mini Romag generator from Magnetic Energy uses the principle of moving magnetic flow named "the magnetic current" for generating electrical power. According to Magnetic Energy this generator is able to produce 3.5 volts, 7A DC ( about 24 Watts ) of free electricity while its generate sufficient power to sustain itself... This generator need to be started by an external motor during about 42 seconds at 2100 RPM. After this charging process, when the energy flow is established in the Romag generator, the motor can be removed and free electrical energy can be used. This Romag generator is a new revolutionary concept which generates electrical energy without using the first flow of current generated by magnetism, it uses only the untapped natural ressource of the magnetism..."

http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/mromag.htm

4/15/2006 11:01:44 AM

Quote :

"The root of the problem is that too many gas powered vehicles are out there."

its the nature of transportation in america.

going to take a ton of money to change no matter what solution we decide is better.

4/15/2006 11:20:01 AM

I want my nuclear power back...

4/15/2006 11:27:04 AM

Quote :

"This Romag generator is a new revolutionary concept which generates electrical energy without using the first flow of current generated by magnetism, it uses only the untapped natural ressource of the magnetism..."

ahahahahahhaa leave it to the libertarian to fall for this shit

4/15/2006 11:27:45 AM

I've forgotten a good chunk of my physics and I don't pretend to know everything about magnetism, but this "mini Romag generator" sounds awfully fishy.

EDIT: Well, this isn't from the same website so I guess it doesn't prove anything, but here's another website that talks about the Romag generator.

http://www.magneticenergy.org.uk/Romag/Romag%20Generator.htm

Quote :

"A note on terminology: Magnetic energy is also called life force energy (an energy occurring in all life and all things), zero-point energy (an energy that occurs even in the absolute zero temperature of space), ether (an energy that interacts with gravity and exists on a cosmic scale to guide celestial bodies and life) as well as other terms. The definitions of these different terms may be similar, but we are choosing to use magnetic energy to attempt to integrate the practical applications of this energy with the esoteric concepts behind this energy. Like wise, the Romag Generator may be called a free energy device, an over unity device, green technology, a perpetual motion machine (this is inaccurate as we will explain), a Tesla motor, and other names which may or may not be accurate depending on how individuals are defining these terms. We will try to define the terms we use to help prevent too much confusion. The Earth is surrounded with a sea of energy that is pulsing and is constantly being supplied by a Universal energy system. This energy field that we call the Ionosphere supplies all of the energy needs on our planet. Like the other units we have presented, this Romag-Generator taps into this energy field, converts the energy into something that we can use, and then releases the energy back into the system. This unit, like the others, recycles the Earth's magnetic energy, in fact, all these units cannot function if the energy is not getting recycled because the buildup of energy causes them to stop working. When we present machinery that connects to the Universal energy mechanism, we are opening a whole new world. These concepts are nothing new, but we have yet to see them implemented in our societies. This technology is so far beyond electricity in its versatility and applications, there is absolutely no comparison. Magnetic energy can manifest as force fields, as fields with various characteristics like weightlessness; it can be transmitted through air and space, it can replicate other energy or matter, it can change the characteristics of energy and matter, it can be blended with various elements to produce various results like heat and cold, it can convert matter like garbage into a more pure energy, and the list goes on and on. "

And this is just the beginning of the abstract. Needless to say, this Romag generator is probably a crock of shit.

[Edited on April 15, 2006 at 11:52 AM. Reason : blah]

4/15/2006 11:46:13 AM

Quote :

"ahahahahahhaa leave it to the libertarian to fall for this shit"

"Germs? Ha ha ha.. Why if I washed my hands before surgery, I'd be laughed out of the institute"

--from "The Story of Louis Pasteur"

4/15/2006 12:00:56 PM

you're right - all scientific breakthroughs can be compared to perpetual motion machines

and then you go posting threads asking why libertarians have it so hard

4/15/2006 12:12:39 PM

hey, if zero-point energy can power a stargate, its good enough for a car!

4/15/2006 12:50:48 PM

I for one wish they would just bypass the conversion of coal into diesel, and just invent cars that burn coal and are powered by steam! how cool would it be to be able to shovel coal into the furnace to make your car go????

4/15/2006 9:32:33 PM

How about cars that are powered by dreams? Or imagination?

[Edited on April 15, 2006 at 9:38 PM. Reason : blah]

4/15/2006 9:37:57 PM

Quote :

"all scientific breakthroughs can be compared to perpetual motion machines"

hey..crack that imagination open a little wider. A lot of today's technology was just a pipe dream 50-60 years ago. Thank goodness those inventors didn't pay attention to the naysayers who ridiculed them then.

I don't know if Zero-Point is valid or not, but to ridicule it out of hand before anything has been proven shows a telling lack of curiosity and imagination.

4/15/2006 10:02:02 PM

Quote :

"I don't know if Zero-Point is valid or not"

I do know. Its not valid. Its perpetual fucking motion

Quote :

"but to ridicule it out of hand before anything has been proven"

pretty sure the laws of thermodynamics have been as proven as is possible in an empirical paradigm

Quote :

"shows a telling lack of curiosity and imagination."

yea i reckon so

anyway, have fun bemoaning the fact that everyone thinks you libertarian morons are a bunch of fucking kool-aid sippers.

[Edited on April 16, 2006 at 12:26 AM. Reason : s]

4/16/2006 12:25:51 AM

i enjoy the witty banter between stalker00 and Excoriator

4/16/2006 1:29:52 AM

Quote :

" hey, if zero-point energy can power a stargate, its good enough for a car!"

I thought that the Stargates were powered by ambient energy (or the naqueda reactors).

Atlantis is powered by the ZPMs.

4/16/2006 2:35:55 AM