THETRUECOSTOFCOAL-TO-LIQUIDFUELfromtheKentuckiansfortheCommonwealth

WhatisCoal-to-LiquidFuel?

Technologyexiststoturncoalintoadiesel-likefuel.Theprocess,namedFischer-Tropsch,wasusedbyGermanyduringWorldWarIIandSouthAfricaduringtheApartheidera,two

militaryregimesthatwereisolatedfromtherestoftheworldandblockedfromaccesstointernationaltrade.Theprocessinvolvesfirstconvertingcoaltogasandthenintoasyntheticfuel.Liquidcoalrequireshugeamountsofcoal,waterandenergy.

Thisisasynfuelboondoggletoocostlytorepeat

Iftheargumentsbeingmadeforcoal-to-liquidfuelsubsidiessoundfamiliar,it’sbecausetheyare(onlywithamuchgreaterpricetag).We’vebeendownthisroadbeforeduringthefailedsynfuelboondoggleofthe1970sand1980s.Duringthepanicfromthe1973oilembargo,PresidentFordpromisedthatby1985onemillionbarrelsofoiladaywouldcomefromcoal.Itneverdid,andinfactthesynfuelspushnevergotofftheground.Instead,billionsoftaxpayer’sdollarswerewastedonabadideaandbadenergypolicy.

WewillbepayingthebillforBigCoal

Coal-to-liquidplantsarenoteconomicallyfeasible.That’swhycurrentproposalscallfortaxpayerstounderwritesynfuelplants,frombillionsofdollarsinconstructionloanstominimumpricesforthenewfuel.Furthermore,proposedstatelegislationcontainsamyriadofsubsidies,exemptionsandrefunds-includingarefundofcoalseverancetaxgeneratedfromcoalminedforalternativefuels.ThismeansadditionallossestoKentucky’sGeneralFundbudget.

Itwastesanddestroysournaturalresources

Ittakes4-7gallonsofwatertoproduce1gallonofliquidcoalfuel.Onetonofcoalwillproduceonlyabouttwobarrelsofliquidfuel.That’sinefficientandawasteofourresources!A40%increaseinminingwillsupplyonly10%ofourtransportationfuel.ThatkindofincreasewillmeanvastlymoredestructiontoKentucky’snaturalresources,biggerbudgetsforregulatoryagenciesandmorespendingtoaddresstheconsequencesofmining.

ProducingcoaltoliquidfuelwillincreaseglobalclimatechangeCoal-to-liquidcontributestoglobalwarmingratherthansolutionsandwillmakeusmoredependentonfossilfuels.Coal-basedliquidfuelsgeneratetwiceasmuchcarbondioxideaspetroleum-basedfuels.Whiletherestoftheworldisworkingtoreducecarbonemissionswe’dbepayingtoincreasethem.Itmaythentakemillionsorbillionsofdollarsmoretobringthesesynfuelpantsintocompliancewithcarbonemissionstandards.

SubsidizingLiquidCoalIsAGambleWeCan’tAfford!

THEREISABETTERWAY!

WeNeedToInvestInSafe,RenewableEnergyandBetterJobsThereareproventechnologiesthatarecleanerandlesscostlythatcanbeimplementedmoreimmediately.Investmentsinrenewableenergywouldcreategoodjobsandsupportsustainablecommunities.Moresubsidiesfordirtyenergyisaleapinthewrongdirection.Tolearnmorevisit:www.kftc.org/coaltoliquid