I'm looking at a better way to win the Branson-Gore prize and make a
profit into the bargain. If it works we'll be richer than both.
Turn the coal and lots of alga into *carbon fibre*: billions of tons of
it. The process should be profitable if we can crack the chemistry.
1. _Anaerobic coking_ strips the coal and or bulk fertilized alga or
Sargasso weed into near pure carbon and a mix of methane and H2.
2. Burn the H2 to provide power.
3. React the methane with catalysts to make ethylene and plastics.
Mainly bonding agents.
4. Process the coke into carbon fibre. That’s the bit that should be
tricky.
5. Bond the fibre into structural systems with the plastics.
6. Sequester the carbon* in plain sight* as roads, bridges, cars and
buildings.
If we can turn coal onto a material feed stock while liberating its
hydrogen to be used as a fuel we end the arguments and get rich at the
same time. If carbon composites were made as cheap as glass or concrete
it would sell for much more than coal. These materials are the key to
faster lighter cars and cheap air and space travel. We could make
bridges with amazing spans and building that look feather light. The
coal industry would survive and get richer. And the CO2 question would
be moot.
I'm looking for contacts with the necessary qualifications and skills to
have a look at this option. I also need someone with access to coal, a
lab and funding. I'm also emailing politicians and coal industry people.
The whole greenhouse debate here in Australia is about Coal. Our prime
minister Mr Howard has been blunt and honest. He does not want to kill
off Australia coal industry with Kyoto, carbon taxes or Green
socialistic economic suicide. {my words not his}. Several whole regions
in Australia and the nations balance of payments are dependant on Coal.
Thousands of jobs and 18 towns would go if we killed the industry.
Remember when Maggie Thatcher did that in Britton there was war in the
streets and people died. More governments have fallen to coal miners
riots and rebellions than to oil related political action.
Extracting the carbon as a building material seems obvious to me. The
key is to separate the carbon from the hydrogen before combusting the
either. Most of the energy in coal is in the hydrogen bonds not the
carbon to carbon bonds.
Several of the plastics steps are exothermal and can be used to generate
heat and if your creative electricity.
