Multi-client Study Proposal

Coal is the most abundant, widely dispersed non-renewable hydrocarbon resource on earth, with at least 2 trillion to 909 billion mt in reserves worldwide, consuming 4.8 billion mt/yr, with over 150+ years of life as defined today.  It is the primary fuel for electricity generation (54% in the U.S. and 39% globally) and the most affordable hydrocarbon resource.

Despite its abundance and relative low-cost, the world seems to have embraced the concept that biomass is the economical answer to the energy crisis.  Regardless of the press, government legislation and incentives, this is not an entire solution!  There are many solutions and opportunities to resolve the “energy crisis” and to address energy security factors involving indigenous resources on a regional basis.   Moreover, there are additional environmentally friendly, economic alternative energy and fuels opportunities to evaluate which just make good corporate investment sense. 

TCGR’s study, Unconventional Coal Conversion: Technology Development & Commercial Progress,  will investigate, document and explore unconventional advanced coal technologies which: broaden the resource base and improve feedstock efficiency and utilization that ultimately lead to reduced overall cost(s) for the production of power, fuels and chemicals.

A sample of the advanced coal technology developments to be covered include:

• Advanced Biomass Co-firing
• Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and Coal and Abandoned Mine Methane (CMM / AMM)
• Enhanced CBM-CO₂ Sequestration
• Coal-to-Liquids (CTL)
• Coal Liquefaction – Direct and Indirect; and
• Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)

It is clear that energy and chemical companies need to take a more pragmatic view of the rhetoric being promoted today.  Moreover, with sound investment(s), each company can escape the confusion and profit by looking to resources like TCGR who will report the facts about the energy demands, the new technologies available and the different paths towards the solutions for the future.  For coal, the challenge is how to best utilize this resource as part of the energy mix and make it environmentally friendly at the same time.