coal as a raw material<\/a> correctly identifies the key problem with current technologies: the enormous carbon dioxide release from the standard processes. Plants relying on Fischer-Tropsch conversion of synthesis gas or on variants of Bergius direct hydrogenation of coal are basically CO2 factories that produce liquid hydrocarbons as a by-product. Nonetheless, coal has tremendous potential as a source of chemicals\u2014mainly aromatics\u2014and as a basis for making an array of carbon materials. The latter, in particular, could have applications in batteries and supercapacitors; coal-derived carbon fibers could be used in wind-turbine blades.<\/p>\nThe challenge to chemists is to develop new routes to these valuable products that would form substantially less CO2 and other low-value substances or wastes. A possible general strategy might be to apply the tenets of green chemistry to coal conversion. This is a wide-open opportunity that has significant potential payoffs in products useful in renewable energy applications. Having worked with coal for 50 years, I can attest that this won\u2019t be easy, but why work on easy problems?<\/p>\n
Harold Schobert
\n Jordan, Minnesota<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fun and games with elements<\/p>\n
Among other changes to C&EN, I have noticed the crossword puzzle in each issue. I am not an avid crossword solver, but I appreciate the playful addition, and I want to suggest one of my own.<\/p>\n
Now retired, I try to keep in shape by taking long walks, and I have a mental game that I like to play. I call it Car Tags and Elemental Symbols. As I pass a parked car, I note the letters on the license plate and match them to elemental symbols. For example, a plate with Y67-QFH would contain symbols for yttrium, fluorine, and hydrogen.<\/p>\n
The game keeps my mind active while I exercise, and I have been encouraged to learn more about unfamiliar elements. I hope other readers will enjoy playing it.<\/p>\n
Kathryn R. Williams
\n Gainesville, Florida<\/p>\n
\n Chemical & Engineering News<\/p>\n
ISSN 0009-2347<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9
\n 2025 American Chemical Society<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Letters to the editor The challenge of coal as a raw material The article on coal as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5377,7321,54622,61,60,103722,34083,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-193687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-carbon-dioxide","9":"tag-coal","10":"tag-green-chemistry","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-letters-to-the-editor","14":"tag-petrochemicals","15":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}