Technology Turns Low-Rank Coal into Green Fuel

Imagine a technology that could mass produce, without any damage to the environment, a new fuel that would help resolve future oil shortages. Silverado Green Fuel Inc. says it's on the verge of turning this idea into reality. The company has designed a technology that uses low-rank coal, which represents half of the U.S.'s coal reserves, to make so-called Green Fuel. It has entered into a "memorandum of understanding" with the Mississippi Development Authority and other state agencies to build a $26 million "ecoplex" plant to produce this new form of low-cost alternative fuel by utilizing the state's vast low-rank coal reserves. Green Fuel is made by "pressure cooking" the coal to dehydrate the particles and release waxes and resins, leaving the particles in a safe, high-energy state and suspended in their originally extracted water. The water is treated and then added back to the dried coal. The end product is a thick, oily liquid, which can be used to power oil-fired power plants directly or as a feedstock for further processing to produce transportation fuels, agricultural compounds (fertilizers, synthetic petrochemical feedstocks, ammonia), industrial products (oils, lubricants, synthetics), and even consumer products (plastics and packaging). Silverado Green Fuel Inc. is subsidiary of Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. in Vancouver, BC, Canada. More information is available at www.silverado.com/ecoplex.