Coal-to-liquids is not just a bad idea, it could become a bad law

Some mornings, it’s almost not worth the effort to chew through the straps.

Green Car Congress: Bill requiring use of coal-derived fuels introduced in US House:

Under this legislation, the President has one year after the date of enactment to circulate regulations to refineries, blenders, distributors, and importers to ensure that covered fuel sold or introduced commercially in the United States contains the applicable volume of clean coal-derived (CCD) fuel. The fuel would apply to aviation fuel, motor vehicle fuel, home heating oil, or boiler fuel.

Under this legislation, the applicable volume of clean coal-derived fuel must be 750 million gallons by 2017. It would gradually increase to 6 billion gallons by 2024, and the President would review the program to determine the applicable volume for calendar year 2025 and beyond.

From the bill itself:

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) CLEAN COAL-DERIVED FUEL-

(A) IN GENERAL- The term `clean coal-derived fuel’ means aviation fuel, motor vehicle fuel, home heating oil, or boiler fuel that is–

(i) substantially derived from the coal resources of the United States; and

(ii) refined or otherwise processed at a facility located in the United States that captures up to 100 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions that would otherwise be released at the facility.

(B) INCLUSIONS- The term `clean coal-derived fuel’ may include any other resource that is extracted, grown, produced, or recovered in the United States.

(2) COVERED FUEL- The term `covered fuel’ means–

(A) aviation fuel;

(B) motor vehicle fuel;

(C) home heating oil; and

(D) boiler fuel.

Reading this carefully, I’m not entirely sure what it says or how much it would change anything about US energy consumption or CO2 emissions. Notice that it says “clean coal derived fuel” is refined/processed at plants that capture “up to 100 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions that would otherwise be released at the facility”. So a refinery that turns coal into liquid fuel can capture 0.01% of its CO2 and qualify, even if it dramatically increases the CO2 footprint of the fuel it produces?

It seems that “clean coal derived fuel” means just the portion of fuel added to “normal” fuel, not the entire mix. And even then it only has to be derived “substantially” from coal. Hey, Congress People — can you hang an integer on “substantially” for me? My calculator doesn’t have a “substantially” key or display.

Frankly, I’ve been expecting something like this, or far worse, to come out of the US Congress for some time. Coal needs a lifeline, and it’s mined in just enough states that it will very likely be on the fast track for long-term, legislated support, similar to that of corn ethanol. This particular bill seems like it has almost no chance of passing, simply because it does so little other than play well with voters in coal extracting areas of the country. Wait — did I just say that it’s effectively nothing more than a cheap political tactic? Why yes, I did.