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We have several times documented for you the development, by United States Department of Defense contractors United Technologies and Hamilton Standard, of now-patented technologies for the conversion of Carbon Dioxide, as recovered from the atmosphere or ocean water, into liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
Included in our reports was even one US Patent, applied for by United Technologies, for a "Fuel Production Ship", wherein CO2 and Hydrogen, with the Hydrogen to be electrolyzed from sea water, would be catalytically combined to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
We note, too, our previous reports, with more to follow, of similar technology being developed by NASA.
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Herein, we see that scientists in the United Kingdom claim, and our United States Government agrees, that Carbon Dioxide, as arises in a small way, relative to volcanoes, for instance, from some of our varied and productive uses of Coal, is a valuable raw material resource.
We can make higher hydrocarbons, including liquid fuels, with Carbon Dioxide.
The science disclosed in this United States Patent sounds, to us, very similar to the "tri-reforming" technology explained most recently and, for us, most clearly, by scientists at Penn State University; one of whom, Craig Grimes, as we reported, was quoted as saying, in reference to the mandated geologic sequestration of CO2, primarily to assist in secondary petroleum recovery in leaky West Texas oil fields, that, "Burying CO2 is ridiculous".
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Since, under separate cover, we are today sending along report of "United States Patent 5,431,855 - Processes for the Conversion of Methane to Synthesis Gas", wherein it's officially recorded by our government that Carbon Dioxide can be reacted with Methane to generate more complex, and valuable, hydrocarbons, in a process that requires little or no input of externally-supplied energy; we wanted to confirm, yet again, that such energy efficiencies, such "self-powered" potentials, also exist for processes designed to convert our abundant Coal into more valuable hydrocarbons.
Not only that, but: Such self-powered Coal conversion processes can also, again as we have elsewhere documented to be feasible, in combination with internally-generated Steam, create all of the Hydrogen needed for the complete hydrogenation of the Carbon contained in the Coal.
Moreover, Big Oil and our own United States Government, as embodied in the Patent Office, knew all of that to be true more than half a century ago.
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Since, in order to convert our abundant Coal into more versatile hydrocarbon liquids and gasses - which can serve as direct replacements for those we now derive from petroleum - we have to hydrogenate the Carbon, of which Coal is essentially comprised, we herein continue to document the fact that such hydrogenation can be accomplished, simply and directly, through reactions between hot Coal and Steam.
And, what should be interesting, again as we have earlier documented, supplemental Carbon Dioxide can be added to such processes, since Steam provides an abundance of Hydrogen, so as to increase the production of hydrocarbons.
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We've been unable to learn much about the inventor, Titus Ulke, named in this United States Patent, except that he appears to have been something of an itinerant alchemist, or wandering metallurgical genius, who, along his way, authored a surprising number of technical treatises; including, for instance, a book, in 1903, entitled Modern Electrolytic Copper Refining.
Aside from his interests in the refining of metals, Ulke also realized that Coal, too, could be refined; and, in 1923, our United States Government agreed, via issuance of the enclosed and attached US Patent.
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