Show Coal Into Gas In a few years you may be filling up the family car with plus octane gasoline that's been refined from TODAY'S gasoline is refined from crude but the supply of this precious resource is threatened by a rapidly expanding demand for oil-produced blocking of oil exploration and facility-development and the approaching depletion of this country's and the Estimates of current U.S. oil resources are about 11 Some estimates are even THE petroleum concerned about the power crisis and seeking additional ways to meet this country's fuel is directing millions of dollars of its research into programs looking towards Why Almost half of the world's remaining coal is in the much as 1600 years depending on usage and it is available m almost every geographical U.S. coal is also closer to the surface than in any other major making it less expensive to THE process of converting coal to gasoline is still in the developmental but a pilot plant operating in is now capable of converting 36 tons of coal per day into 48 barrels of high grade synthetic crude oil which gasoline and other products like natural Large scale commercial operations could possibly begin as early as 1979 by the turn of the contribute a quarter or more of the nation's according to petroleum industry THE conversion process involves heating the coal to high temperatures and driving off the oil and natural The oil is condensed and treated with hydrogen to form a crude oil with low sulphur content which can be used directly as fuel oil or fed to a refinery to generate gasoline and other oil |