The Oil Drum

One of the most critical aspects of military operations is the reliance on fuel. I was struck by that as I am currently half-way through the video series based on Daniel Yergin's "The Prize" and have just watched the segment on the Second World War. Access to oil was critical to success. Assuring that access has, as a result, been a critical part of military preparedness. It is therefore interesting to see, courtesy of Leanan and the Energy Bulletin (pdf available at that site), that the one-time general in charge of the U.S. Army Material Command, is now, as a scholar at West Point, concerned enough about oil supply to write a paper. The paper begins

Without ready alternatives to replace ever more costly and scarce oil, we are entering an age of uncertainty and insecurity unlike any other that could include economic stagnation or even reversal. Although the military will always have access to the fuel required for national security missions, the costs will rise substantially in the near future and require the reallocation of resources from other critical mission elements and programs.

Part of the problem with coal is that, when it was first grown (as in the peat bogs back when) the region was occasionally inundated with floods, and, as the Hurricanes showed last year, this carried mud and sand into the bog. Over the passage of time, as the bog turned from peat to brown coal, and then into coal itself, these dirt bands turned into sandstone, mudstones and other rocks. The layers are often found inter-layered within a coal seam, either as very thin stringers, or as partings that can separate a single seam into layers that end up several feet apart. The bedding planes and vertical joints (referred to as cleat) provide the permeable paths through the coal, and are often partially filled with additional minerals that deposit out of the water that percolated through the coal at one time. This can also introduce lenses of pyrite and calcite, so that coal is not the simple carbon lump that people often anticipate.

This is another in the short technical posts that show up at weekends, dealing with one aspect or another of fossil fuel production. Given that, as Super G noted the Governor of Montana was on 60 minutes tonight, it seemed like a good time to return to a coal-related theme. A list of related posts will be appended at the end of this one, and relate to the mining of coal, either on the surface or from underground, though it is the surface mining of coal, that currently entices the Montana Governor. It should be noted that the adjacent state of Wyoming produces around 400 million short tons a year of coal, about ten times the current production from Montana.

After having tackled tar sands and climate change, 60 Minutes took on coal liquefaction:

The governor of Montana says he can turn the billions of tons of coal under his state into enough diesel fuel to greatly reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.

And there's an added benefit, says Gov. Brian Schweitzer: the United States will be sticking it to the "rats and crooks" who run the countries that sell oil to us.

We've discussed Mr. Schweitzer and the Fischer-Tropsch method before:

• Montana could supply the whole US with fuel!
  
• Brian Schweitzer replies
  
• A Discussion with Governor Brian Schweitzer
  

(Hat tip: Daily Kos)

Earlier today I participated in a conference call with Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana. You'll recall that we previously discussed his plan to convert lots of Montana coal to liquids (and again here). This conference call was at the behest of the Democratic Governors Association, who are organizing a series of calls between Democratic governors and bloggers - and they invited the Oil Drum. Five bloggers showed up, listened to the governor's spiel, and then got to ask a few questions. Here are my impressions.

In a DailyKos diary, Jerome a Paris (who focuses on energy issues) took on Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's recent New York Times op-ed about making synthetic fuels from coal using the Fischer-Tropsch process. Jerome had some probing questions for the governor, and today, Schweitzer responded to Jerome in his own diary. He doesn't exactly answer Jerome's actual specific questions, but he seems to be taking people's concerns seriously.