"Understanding the Future of Sustainable Energy"

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Challenges

Electric Power

Transportation
Small Gasoline
Coal-to-Liquid
Ethanol
Hydrogen
Battery Electric
Hybrid
Direct Electric

Future Grid

What can you do?

As the price of gasoline increases, liquid fuels or hydrogen derived from coal may become economical.  Coal to fuel technology allows us to continue our way of transportation by replacing petroleum with liquid fuels or hydrogen derived from coal (a fuel abundant within the U.S).  The DOE energy information administration projects a small increase of coal-to-liquids by 2015 and a substantial increase by 2030.  Liquid fuels provide high energy density for transportation (see discussion in gasoline subsection) and coal generated hydrogen can help make the hydrogen economy become a reality.

Coal is very carbon intensive (more then petroleum).  If coal carbon capture and sequestration  is not utilize then any use of coal will inherently emit large amounts of greenhouse gases affecting global climate change.  Coal-to-hydrogen is very attractive in the sense that the carbon can be captured and sequestered in the generation of hydrogen.  In this case hydrogen can be generated from coal and piped into urban areas to fuel hydrogen vehicles including fuel cell vehicles.  Further coal generated hydrogen can be used used in urban area to provide heat or even combined heat and power with limited carbon emissions. 

Coal to liquid may be a viable for planes and ships, which are required to travel large distance without the ability to "re-fuel".  If large amount of coal is liquefied for transportation in urban areas (i.e. personal transportation) technology to reduce tail-pipe emissions will have to continue to develop to maintain air quality. 

Coal consumption in the industrial and building sectors and at coal-to-liquids plants, 2005, 2015, and 2030 (quadrillion Btu).  [Energy Information Administration/Annual Energy Outlook 2007]