Changing A State's Economy

[SirNitram]

It's a crazy idea, I admit it. But sometimes someone has to think the crazy ones, and see if they'll work. In short, someone must stick their fingers in the light socket of Reality.

West Virginia's economy is in the hole because there's no industry. Or, the industry we have(Coal) is owned by out-of-state interests. ASSHOLES! Okay, got that out of my system.

What it needs, in short, is a local economy. So I looked back, thinking, and found the Thermal Depolymerization stuff, you know, Anything Into Oil? I've done investigating, and it looks like it'll work beautifully in WV. Perhaps even excess coal could be dumped it, after all, the efficiency of the whole shebang is supposed to rise with dry material.

IF, by some miracle, the business proposal I am putting together works, it stands to change the way this state works. From third world country to bonafide oil exporter.

Okay, everyone tell me how it's not gonna work, please.

[Hobot]

You'd have to find someone with a lot of capital to back that transition. That'd probably one of the biggest hurdles.

[LadyTevar]

IF, by some miracle, the business proposal I am putting together works, it stands to change the way this state works. From third world country to bonafide oil exporter.

Okay, everyone tell me how it's not gonna work, please.

1) Money.. but there are 'small business' loans as well as other economic options that the state's been offering to outside industries in the attempt to lure them to WV. (And there's always winning the Loterry.... )

2) Politics. Coal owns the State. Period. You'd have to prove to Coal lobbyists that this is not going to run King Coal out of business.

Those are the two that come to mind first off.

[Sea Skimmer]

Converting coal into oil is not economical. The only reason anyone has done it is because they where physically cut off from oil, such as in the case of Germany. South Africa also invested in it for a time, once more because embargos and a lack of foreign exchange made it impossible to import sufficient crude.

[SirNitram]

Converting coal into oil is not economical. The only reason anyone has done it is because they where physically cut off from oil, such as in the case of Germany. South Africa also invested in it for a time, once more because embargos and a lack of foreign exchange made it impossible to import sufficient crude.

I didn't know such techniques had existed before, thank you for the enlightenment. Even still, WV has alot of waste that could go into the process, so I think it would work. Sod the coal companies then.

[Hobot]

Converting coal into oil is not economical. The only reason anyone has done it is because they where physically cut off from oil, such as in the case of Germany. South Africa also invested in it for a time, once more because embargos and a lack of foreign exchange made it impossible to import sufficient crude.

Thermo-depolymerization does not involve converting coal into oil. What it does it refine the coal and make it burn much more cleanly.

More info

[Hobot]

But the coal industry may become thermal depolymerization's biggest fossil-fuel beneficiary. "We can clean up coal dramatically," says Appel. So far, experiments show the process can extract sulfur, mercury, naphtha, and olefins—all salable commodities—from coal, making it burn hotter and cleaner. Pretreating with thermal depolymerization also makes coal more friable, so less energy is needed to crush it before combustion in electricity-generating plants.

[LadyTevar]

But the coal industry may become thermal depolymerization's biggest fossil-fuel beneficiary. "We can clean up coal dramatically," says Appel. So far, experiments show the process can extract sulfur, mercury, naphtha, and olefins—all salable commodities—from coal, making it burn hotter and cleaner. Pretreating with thermal depolymerization also makes coal more friable, so less energy is needed to crush it before combustion in electricity-generating plants.

JonAmos power plant'd love that.. as would Elkem Metals plant at Alloy.

[RedImperator]

Import garbage. Seriously, you're close enough to the big east coast metro areas and the Rust Belt cities to import thousands of tons solid waste in trucks. There have got to be some open coal pits that are already so toxic nobody will mind if you build giant garbage processing plants in them.

Of course, you'll have to compete with New Jersey for this business.