The Atomic Show #096 – Bonne Posma, Founder, Liquid Coal Inc.
Bonne Posma wants to use heat from atomic reactors as part of a process of cleanly converting coal into a liquid hydrocarbon – either diesel fuel or jet fuel depending on the market demands.
Bonne Posma is a serial entrepreneur whose latest company is called Liquid Coal, Inc.. He has developed a concept for using the heat from high temperature reactors as a way to improve the cleanliness of well known chemical processes for converting coal – which is mostly carbon and hydrogen – into a liquid hydrocarbon. The process requires adding hydrogen to coal since it is deficient in that element compared to the hydrocarbons that exist as liquids.
The idea has been around a long time, but the traditional process burns some of the input coal to provide heat. Not only does that reduce the amount of liquid fuel produced per unit of coal mined, but it also releases vast quantities of pollutants. Bonne recognizes the value of liquid hydrocarbon as an almost irreplaceable building block of modern society and he strongly believes that processes that make it cleanly have incredible value for today and for the future.
I agree with his assessment. What do you think?
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Greetings Rod,
I listened with some interest your interview with Posma. He speaks of nothing really new as I and my colleagues have published in this area since 2006. In the event that you may be interested, I will send to you the American Nuclear Society and Tau Beta Pi (National Engineering Honor Society) papers that demonstrate the chemistry and economics of nuclear/coal symbiosis.
Best regards,
S. Locke Bogart
Rod,
I listened to your interview with Mr. Posma and read the response post from S. Locke Bogart. The interview was interesting of Mr. Posma’s efforts and I applaud the real world Entrepreneurs who are willing to invest their own capital to actual working model pilot initiatives that are producing a product.
The problem with Mr. Bogart and others along with him in their societies is they are the exact problem to the U.S.’s energy problems. They conduct theoritical research, advocate to politicians they need more money to conduct more research, get the money they have advocated for, produce a report that sets on a shelf and no action or application is actually taken.
Thus, if the new Obama administration listens to societies and researchers such as this, then we will definitley have a repeat of the 70’s with no actual outcome and Entrepreneurs such as Mr. Posma will be left holding a pilot plant and a loss in venture capital because legislation and research societies did not adhere to any real tangible result of energy independence from foreign energy resources.
Could the Posma process be used to extract diesel or gasoline from shale?
I have in mind the large shale deposits in South Australia
Keith Johnson BSc Eng UNSW June 8 2015