Synthetic Fuel - Coal to fuel and oil shale

[EQuin]

Alot of us are rightly concerned about the price of oil and its inflationary consequences to our economy, our nation's well-being and those of our Western allies:

http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42608

After reading Glenn Beck's opinion piece on the poor direction our country has been heading towards with respect to energy policy, it got me thinking alot about the excellent points he made. Here's his piece, titled "U.S. is a Suicidal Superpower":

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/24/beck.oil.prices/

Curious, I did a search on synthetic fuel and came across this:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...n24996859/pg_1

According to this and many other similar articles, technology to convert coal (of which we have an over-abundance) into liquid fuel has been around for about 80 years. And new technology makes that conversion much more efficient to the point where it would be profitable if oil reaches $39-$44 per barrel (as of now, it's around $115-$119). This new technology also converts it so that it burns cleaner than diesel with less particulates, and no engine modifications are needed for internal combustion engines to run it.

Although a different resource and different technology, in a somewhat similar vein is the new in-situ technology Shell and Oxy have developed for oil shale, another overly-abundant resource our country has. Here are some interesting articles about its promise:

http://www.accesstoenergy.com/view/a...e/s76a3668.htm
http://www.dailyreckoning.com/rpt/OilShale.html

SO WHY ARE WE NOT TAKING MORE ADVANTAGE OF THESE RESOURCES AND TECHNOLOGIES AND WEANING OURSELVES OFF OF FOREIGN OIL? Why do we continue to transfer our nation's wealth to foreign countries that hate us? What the heck is going on? I can understand that the oil shale in-situ technology is still somewhat experimental. So perhaps it's a bit premature to get our hopes up too high for that alternative. But the coal-to-liquid synthetic fuel sounds much more promising, unless I'm missing something? Only thing I can think of is the greenhouse gas concerns with the coal-to-synth fuel, but what would be so different than what we have now with regular crude and gasoline consumption? Anyone else in the industry or with knowledge on this care to expound?

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[DOG ON]

SO WHY ARE WE NOT TAKING MORE ADVANTAGE OF THESE RESOURCES AND TECHNOLOGIES AND WEANING OURSELVES OFF OF FOREIGN OIL? Why do we continue to transfer our nation's wealth to foreign countries that hate us? What the heck is going on?

Always follow the money.............The status quo benefits a few very , very powerful and influential minority.....

[Offspring]

OILSANDS QUEST INC (BQI)

http://www.oilsandsquest.com/

They're on it. Still a speculative stock but hard to pass up especially during these times.

[Offspring]

Always follow the money.............The status quo benefits a few very , very powerful and influential minority.....

You're right, however I know what you are alluding to (the evil GWB ), but it is the environmental movement and the ideals of the radical left that are preventing this from happening. BTW they have LARGE amounts of money behind them.

[DOG ON]

Kinder-Morgan bought many stategical pipelines in Canada last year....

Richard Kinder is Midas king as far as oil/gas investments are concerned.....I made a nice amount of money with KMI until it became private again last year.....Try to get KMP, as far as Rich Kinder is CEO I will be putting part of my crazy money in his hands.

[DOG ON]

You're right, however I know what you are alluding to (the evil GWB ), but it is the environmental movement and the ideals of the radical left that are preventing this from happening. BTW they have LARGE amounts of money behind them.

No, the effects are not what I am alluding to.....I am referring to the cause.
Anyway, I have money on Kinder Morgan (KMP). I know if this technology gets going they will be positioned on top of the biggests Canadian reserves.

[pjc]

OILSANDS QUEST INC (BQI)

http://www.oilsandsquest.com/

They're on it. Still a speculative stock but hard to pass up especially during these times.

Thanks for that tip.. As a regular American investor, I am glad to be one of the so-called minority that can partake in the profits of domestic and in this case, Canadian corporations.

[dmcmah0n]

I have seen mutiple DailyWealth emails about Oil Sands Quest (BQI). Over Easter, I asked my uncle, who works for ExxonMobil, about the oilsands. He didn't say too much about it other than that there was alot of oil in the sands.

Right now, it is a very speculative investment. However, there is a large opportunity for large gains in the upcoming years.

IMHO, BQI is a bit over-hyped.

[dmcmah0n]

According to this and many other similar articles, technology to convert coal (of which we have an over-abundance) into liquid fuel has been around for about 80 years. And new technology makes that conversion much more efficient to the point where it would be profitable if oil reaches $39-$44 per barrel (as of now, it's around $115-$119). This new technology also converts it so that it burns cleaner than diesel with less particulates, and no engine modifications are needed for internal combustion engines to run it.

The process you are referring to is coal liquefaction/gasification. There was a great Diesel Power article about this process and how Montana governor Brian Schweitzer is implementing this technology in his state.

[TreyP]

Always follow the money.............The status quo benefits a few very , very powerful and influential minority.....

The people you are refering to I think are the large invester companies that are buying oil and manipulating the price. They are doing the same thing that Enron and others did with the electricity markets years ago. The 2007 energy bill closed this loophole for them, but the Justice Department has yet to impliment guidelines for enforcement.

It will be years before they trace them.