title: Comparative analysis of the production costs and life-cycle GHG emissions of FT liquid fuels from coal and natural gas.
abstract: Liquid transportation fuels derived from coal and natural gas could helpthe United States reduce its dependence on petroleum. The fuels could be produced domestically or imported from fossil fuel-rich countries. The goal of this paper is to determine the life-cycle GHG emissions of coal- and natural gas-based Fischer-Tropsch (FT) liquids, as well as to compare production costs. The results show that the use of coal- or natural gas-based FT liquids will likely lead to significant increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to petroleum-based fuels. In a best-case scenario, coal- or natural gas-based FT-liquids have emissions only comparable to petroleum-based fuels. In addition, the economic advantages of gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuels are not obvious: there is a narrow range of petroleum and natural gas prices at which GTL fuels would be competitive with petroleum-based fuels. CTLfuels are generally cheaper than petroleum-based fuels. However, recent reports suggest there is uncertainty about the availability of economically viable coal resources in the United States. If the U.S. has a goal of increasing its energy security, and at the same time significantly reducing its GHG emissions, neither CTL nor GTL consumption seem a reasonable path to follow.
authors.affiliation: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213-3890, USA. pjaramil@andrew.cmu.edu
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jaramillo
authors.forename: W Michael
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Griffin
authors.forename: H Scott
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Matthews
mesh_terms: D002625:Chemistry, Organic / Q000379:methods*; D003031:Coal / Q000191:economics*; D005579:Fossil Fuels / Q000191:economics*; D005742:Gasoline; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D010578:Petroleum; D014186:Transportation; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D005579:Fossil Fuels; D005742:Gasoline; D010578:Petroleum