Coal Gasification

Gasification
See also: Underground Coal Gasification
High prices of oil and natural gas are leading to increased interest in "BTU Conversion" technologies such as gasification, methanation and liquefaction.
Coal gasification breaks down the coal into its components, usually by subjecting it to high temperature and pressure, using steam and measured amounts of oxygen. This leads to the production of syngas, a mixture mainly consisting of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2).
In the past, coal was converted to make coal gas, which was piped to customers to burn for illumination, heating, and cooking. At present, the safer natural gas is used instead. South Africa still uses gasification of coal for much of its petrochemical needs.
The Synthetic Fuels Corporation was a U.S. government-funded corporation established in 1980 to create a market for alternatives to imported fossil fuels (such as coal gasification). The corporation was discontinued in 1985.
Gasification is also a possibility for future energy use, as the produced syngas can be cleaned-up relatively easily leading to cleaner burning than burning coal directly (the conventional way). The cleanliness of the cleaned-up syngas is comparable to natural gas enabling to burn it in a more efficient gas turbine rather than in a boiler used to drive a steam turbine. Syngas produced by gasification can be CO-shifted meaning that the combustible CO in the syngas is transferred into carbon dioxide (CO2) using water as a reactant. The CO-shift reaction also produces an amount of combustible hydrogen (H2) equal to the amount of CO converted into CO2. The CO2 concentrations (or rather CO2 partial pressures) obtained by using coal gasification followed by a CO-shift reaction are much higher than in case of direct combustion of coal in air (which is mostly nitrogen). These higher concentrations of carbon dioxide make carbon capture and storage much more economical than it otherwise would be.

[edit] Liquefaction - Coal-To-Liquids (CTL)
Coals can also be converted into liquid fuels like gasoline or diesel by several different processes. The Fischer-Tropsch process of indirect synthesis of liquid hydrocarbons was used in Nazi Germany for many years and is today used by Sasol in South Africa. Coal would be gasified to make syngas (a balanced purified mixture of CO and H2 gas) and the syngas condensed using Fischer-Tropsch catalysts to make light hydrocarbons which are further processed into gasoline and diesel. Syngas can also be converted to methanol, which can be used as a fuel, fuel additive, or further processed into gasoline via the Mobil M-gas process.