Patent ID: 8461215

Claim:
A method for rendering coal as an essentially environmentally carbon dioxide-neutral fuel and regenerative carbon source, which comprises: subjecting coal to reaction conditions sufficient to produce carbon dioxide; capturing and purifying the produced carbon dioxide; and combining the purified carbon dioxide with water and a suitable hydrocarbon source having the formulation of C n H (2n+2) , in a molar ratio of 3:(3n−1):1 as 3C n H (2n+2) +(3n−1)H 2 O+CO 2 to conduct a bi-reforming reaction by: conducting steam reforming of the hydrocarbon with water to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen; conducting dry reforming of the hydrocarbon with carbon dioxide to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen; combining effluents including carbon monoxide and hydrogen from the steam and dry reforming reactions without separation of components of the reforming reactions or their effluents to produce a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide having a molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide that is about 2:1 to 2.1:1; and converting the molar mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide under conditions sufficient to exclusively form methanol, as follows: (3 n+ 1)CO+(6 n+ 2)H 2 →(3 n+ 1)CH 3 OH, so that the carbon dioxide generated from the coal is not introduced into the atmosphere, thus rendering the coal as an essentially environmentally carbon dioxide-neutral fuel.