Synthetic Liquid Fuels Program
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/* History */
The '''Synthetic Liquid Fuels Program''' was a program run by the [[United States Bureau of Mines]] to create the technology to produce [[synthetic fuel]] from [[coal]]. It was initiated in [[1944]] during [[World War II]]. The '''Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act''' approved on [[April 5]], [[1944]] authorized the use of $30 million over a five year period for
:''...the construction and operation of demonstration plants to produce synthetic liquid fuels from coal, [[oil shale]]s, agricultural and forestry products, and other substances, in order to aid the prosecution of the war, to conserve and increase the oil resources of the Nation, and for other purposes.''
==History==
The Bureau of Mines first studied the extraction of [[Petroleum|oil]] from [[oil shale]] between [[1925]] - [[1928]].
Between 1928 and [[1944]], the Bureau experimented with [[coal liquefaction]] by [[hydrogenation]] using the [[Bergius process]]. A small-scale test unit constructed in [[1937]] had a 100-pound per day continuous coal feed. The methodologies employed underwent extensive development in this period, delivering significant increases in efficiency, culminating in the [[Karrick process]].
Between [[1945]] and [[1948]], new laboratories were constructed near [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]]. A synthetic [[ammonia]] plant [[Louisiana, Missouri]] ([[Missouri Ordnance Works]]) was transferred from the Army to the program in [[1945]]. The plant was converted into a coal hydrogenation test facility. By [[1949]] the plant could produce 200 [[barrel]]s of oil a day using the [[Bergius process]].
Part of the personnel were [[Nazi Germany|German]] scientists, who had been extracted from Germany by [[Operation Paperclip]].
In [[1948]], the program was extended to eight years and funding increased to $60 million. A second facility was constructed at the Louisiana plant, this time using the [[Fischer-Tropsch process]]. Completed in [[1951]], the plant only produced 40,000 gallons of fuel.
In [[1953]] the new Republican-led [[House Appropriations Committee]] ended funding for the research and the Missouri plant was returned to the [[Department of the Army]].
In [[1979]], after the [[1979 energy crisis|second oil crisis]], the [[U.S. Congress]] approved the [[Energy Security Act]] forming the [[Synthetic Fuels Corporation]] and authorized up to $88 million for synthetic fuels projects.
In [[1986]], during the [[1980s oil glut]], President Reagan signed into law the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 which among other things abolished the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Program. It's estimated that over 40 years the various efforts at creating synthetic fuels may have totaled as much as $8 billion.
==See also==
* [[Jennings Randolph]]
* [[Bergius process]]
* [[Fischer-Tropsch process]]
* [[Karrick process]]
* [[Non-conventional oil]]
* [[Oil shale]]
* [[Future energy development]]
==References==
* [http://www.fossil.energy.gov/aboutus/history/syntheticfuels_history.html The Early Days of Coal Research] at the [[United States Department of Energy|U.S. Department of Energy]] site.
* [http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2005/11/b1157843.html You Don’t Need Oil To Make Fuel]
* [http://www.hubbertpeak.com/laherrere/OilShaleReview.pdf Review on Oil shale data]
* [http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_documents/presentations/ft_ww2/ft_ww2_slide33.htm German Synthetic Fuels Scientists]
* [http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/Bureau_of_Mines/ri/ri_5506/ri_5506_toc.htm The Bureau of Mines Synthetic Liquid Fuels Program 1944-55 Part 1 Oil From Coal]
* [http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1167738,00.html A magic way to make billions] (TIME Magazine, February 2006)
* [http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33359.pdf CRS Report for Congress Oil Shale: History, Incentives, and Policy]
[[Category:United States federal energy legislation]]
[[Category:Petroleum production]]
[[Category:Peak oil]]
[[Category:Coal]]