Scientists of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (affiliated with the University of California at Berkeley) say if all you need from coal is gas, get the gas and leave the coal where it is.

There are coal deposits too deep to be mined economically, for example, in the mountain states. In a process called in situ coal gasification, they propose to drill many holes 2 feet in diameter, and to detonate explosives to fracture the coal in a 250 yard diameter area. Then pump down oxygen and steam to react with the coal to boil off methane gas, the primary constituent (typically, 85%) of natural gas. Other products of the reaction are carbon dioxide, ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen. Pipeline quality gas is hoped for after the impurities have been removed.

Advantages: No mining with its dangers and expenses; no refineries above ground with their waste disposal areas; and reduced costs compared with coal gasification on the surface. Dr Glenn Worth of the LLL estimates the cost at 40 to 60¢ per 1,000 cubic feet of gas, or about 60% less than the price in gasification on the surface.

However, the potential petroleum products, from gasoline to chewing gum ingredients, are lost in the ashes deep below the surface. But that is not much of an objection, considering the amount and depth of the supplies.

As for drilling and detonating, the obvious option is to let the AEC do the job with nuclear explosives. Though such nuclear explosions (for freeing gas and other fuels) have time and again proved safe and effective, they run into strong, though unjustified, environmental opposition. In Colorado, well organized and vocal environmentalists are now planning to put a prohibition of underground nuclear explosions on the ballot. If the prohibition carries, it would not only prevent in situ coal gasifieation in the future, but also present well established techniques of freeing fuels and tapping geothermal energy.

It remains to be seen whether the anti nuelear hysteria can be overcome. If not, the AEC's Operation Plowshare will have lost out to mediaeval superstition.

Vol. 1, No. 1 Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Volume 1 Issue/No.: Vol. 1, No. 1 Date: September 01, 1973 04:37 PM Title: Introducing Ourselves Copyright © 2004 - Access to Energy Newsletter Archive All rights reserved.