The abundance of coal and the nearly perfected coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology, which is used by South African petrochemicals giant Sasol, will ensure that South Africa produces fuels for generations to come, says CTL specialist and trustee of the Fossil Fuel Foundation John Marriott.

But, with increasing pressure on industries to go green, fuel producers will, in future, have to shift their focus to optimised CTL processes, and pollution solutions, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), and green fuel resources such as gas-to-liquids (GTL).

Since it was first discovered by chemists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in the 1920s, the CTL process has been optimised by Sasol and, even though the process is not yet environment friendly, it has been improved to be more efficient.

“When Sasol was established in 1950, the country did not have access to oil like the rest of the world, but what it had was plenty of coal, and Sasol saw the opportunity to make its own fuel,” says Marriott.

Today, more than half a century later, Sasol’s Secunda plant, in Mpumalanga, produces about 160 000 bbl/d of fuel made from coal. However, with these great amounts of fuel produced daily, the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions levels are high, he adds.

Local environmental organisation Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and environmental justice action group groundWork reported in 2009 that Sasol’s Secunda CTL plant was the world’s biggest single-point emitter of CO2_.

“When CTL operations were started in South Africa, there was not much concern about environmental issues, but now the pres- sure on industries to reduce their CO2 _{emissions is increasing, with solutions such as CCS being developed to curb pollution,” says Marriott.}

He explains that, when applied correctly, CCS can be a successful means of capturing CO2 _{emissions. “In the US, CO2 is captured and stored in depleted oilfields. It is also pumped into oilfields to force oil out of under- ground crevices. When applied properly, CCS can reduce the effect of greenhouse gases,” he notes.}

Further, GTL technology can be used to produce fuel without emitting CO2 _{into the atmosphere.}

GTL is an environment-friendly and effi- cient source of energy and, with potential natural gas pockets right under the noses of South Africans in the Karoo, it might be a sustainable green-energy option to be considered by industries, says Marriott.

Global oil giant and energy group Shell plans to perform hydraulic drilling, or fracking, in the Karoo to extract natural gas for energy use. However, the risk of ground- and surface-water contamination during the shale gas extraction must be properly understood and addressed.

Mining Minister Susan Shabangu placed a moratorium on prospecting for shale gas in April and extended this for a further six months in August. The outcome of an assessment of potential shale gas reserves is awaited, as is the outcome of a process of public consul- tation on the matter.

Meanwhile, Sasol has already pursued several GTL projects. It signed a development agreement with the Uzbekistan government for the development and implementation of a GTL project in Uzbekistan, which is a landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and Kyrgyzstan to the north, while Tajikistan is to its east and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south.

The petrochemicals giant has also announced a feasibility study to build a GTL facility in the south-western region of Louisiana, in the US.

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