Seven Generational Ruminations

China is the world's foremost coal producer and consumer, surpassing the United States by a factor of two on both scores and accounting for 40 percent of total world production. Coal in China has a long history dating back over two millennia. Production achieved one million tons per year in 1903 and the present annual output is roughly 2.5 billion metric tons (tonnes). China currently has roughly 25,000 coalmines, with 3.4 million registered employees. Some of these coalmines are illegally operated.

"With demand for energy - both electricity and transportation fuels - increasing, despite efficiency gains, coal usage is going to increase in both countries," said Mike Davis, associate laboratory director for Energy Science and Technology at PNNL.

..."This is a unique opportunity to design and test new processes - such as carbon dioxide capture - that will reduce significantly the environmental impacts of coal usage," said Doug Ray, associate laboratory director for Fundamental Science at PNNL.

Oil at $15 a barrel? concerns a process developed by Silverado Green Fuel to turn marginal coal into a liquid fuel. The liquid fuel can function just like gasoline and they claim it can be sold for $15 per barrel, so in this age where we are staring $100 per barrel oil in the face some obviously would see this as an advantage. Plus they've managed to paint this thing as a green fuel.