1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from house Stuff Works dot com 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: where smart happens. I am Marshall Brain with today's question, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: is it possible to turn coal into oil? And is 4 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: this a good idea? Oil is currently at a hundred 5 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:25,159 Speaker 1: dollars or so per barrel. The current reason for the 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: high price is instability in the Middle East in countries 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: like Libya. In addition, demand for oil is increasing at 8 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: a time when new oil discoveries are declining. This is 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: the whole idea behind peak oil and everything that's discussed 10 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: about that. The idea that human beings are growing in number, 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: and countries like India and China are growing economically, so 12 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: there's more and more demand for oil, despite the fact 13 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: that oil discoveries have pretty much leveled off or even 14 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: have started to decline. In the United States and in 15 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: many other parts of the world, coal is abundant, while oil, 16 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 1: as we just discussed, is not. The United States currently 17 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: burns hundreds of millions of tons of coal and its 18 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: power plants every year, and there's thought to be a 19 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: supply of coal that will last for hundreds of years. 20 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: There's coal everywhere in the United States, well not everywhere, 21 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: but in parts of the United States, there is so 22 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: much coal that the amount is virtually unimaginable. What if coal, 23 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 1: which is abundant, could be turned into oil at a 24 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: cost of perhaps thirty dollars per barrel. That's incredibly inexpensive 25 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: compared to a hundred dollars per barrel, and it would 26 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: have a huge economic impact. That's the idea, This thirty 27 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: dollar a barrel idea behind an invention from the University 28 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: of Texas. It's a micro refinery that has the ability 29 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: to transform solid coal into oil, a liquid hydrocarbon. But 30 00:01:55,360 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: this invention can do that transformation extremely efficiently, pushing the 31 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: cost of the oil from coal down to thirty dollars 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: or so per barrel. How is this possible? Recognize that 33 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: oil consists of hydrocarbons chains of carbon atoms with hydrogen 34 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: atoms attached. So does coal. Coal is made of carbon 35 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: and hydrogen. Except with coal, the carbon molecules form a 36 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: solid because normally there's more carbon than hydrogen available in 37 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: a lump of coal. In anthracite coal, the material is 38 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,959 Speaker 1: almost all carbon. The Germans were able to convert cold 39 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: oil during World War Two using something called the Fisser 40 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: Trops process, which takes all of those carbon atoms in 41 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: coal and adds hydrogen atoms to them to convert the 42 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 1: coal into a liquid. First, the carbon in the coal 43 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: is reacted with oxygen to form a carbon monoxide gas. 44 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: This is an easy way to move carbon from a 45 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: solid to a gaseous form, and that makes it easier 46 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: to do chemical reactions with it. Hydrogen atoms are made 47 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: from water molecules, The carbon atoms are chained together, and 48 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: the hydrogen atoms are added through a series of catalyzed 49 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: chemical reactions. The University of Texas technology improves the process 50 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: by speeding up the reactions and reducing the amount of 51 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,359 Speaker 1: equipment needed. The result is roughly one and a half 52 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: barrels of oil from one ton of coal, and coal 53 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: costs only eighteen dollars per ton right now in Texas. 54 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: And one advantage of the process is that it can 55 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: be done in small refineries rather than having to build 56 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: billion dollar facilities. This makes it a lot easier to 57 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: deploy the technology and grow it incrementally, rather than needing 58 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: huge investments to get the thing going. The question then 59 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: becomes is this a good idea from an economic standpoint? Clearly, 60 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: it is a good idea. With coal, the United States 61 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: could create its own oil for hundreds of years or 62 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: more and free itself from its dependence on foreign oil. 63 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: But environmentally, many people have grave concerns about cold oil technology, 64 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: also known as liquid coal technology. One reason is the 65 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: amount of water needed, since fresh water is becoming more 66 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 1: and more scarce as populations of human beings rise and 67 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: as climate changes. The other concern is the amount of 68 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide created while turning coal into oil. This is 69 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: the same concern that arises when producing oil from tar 70 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: sands and oil shale. What might be a better way 71 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: to address the problem. One proposed solution is oil from algae, 72 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: which we've discussed in several previous podcasts. Algae cells naturally 73 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: contain oil, both as a method of flotation and as 74 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: a way of storing energy. High oiled strains of algae 75 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: can be bred, and those strains of algae are very 76 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: easy to grow. You may have noticed that algae will 77 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: grow in a bucket of water that you leave out 78 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: on your back porch. Then it's relatively easy to extract 79 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: the oil from algae. One way is to simply press 80 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: it out with a big hydraulic press. The advantage of 81 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: oil from algae is that it's a very green process, 82 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: it's sustainable, and it's also something that can be done 83 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: anywhere in the United States. Be sure to check out 84 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how 85 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: Stuff Work staff as we explore the most promising and 86 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The How Stuff Works iPhone app 87 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: has arrived. Download it today on iTunes.