Coal to Liquid Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Government Efforts to Use Coal – The Department of Energy of the United States has announced an USD109.5 million investment in the economic development of coal and power plant communities. Furthermore, USD 19.5 million was awarded in funding for key mineral extraction from coal along with waste streams. This, as a result, would lead to the development of coal-to-liquid technology and as well as increase the demand for CTL.
• Rising Production of Electricity - The majority of power plants used in centralized power generation are thermal power plants, which means they use fuel to heat steam, which then rotates a turbine and generates electricity. Despite a recent boom in renewable energy use, coal remains the primary source of electricity generation worldwide. Global energy generation has expanded dramatically over the past three decades, going from less than 11,000 terawatt-hours in 1990 to over 27,000 terawatt-hours in 2022, and from 2022 to 2025, it is predicted that global electricity demand would increase by more than 2% year on average.

Challenges

• Less economically viable than other fossil fuels - Coal to liquid is generally considered to be more expensive in comparison to other liquid fuel sources, such as petroleum, biofuels, and gas to liquid. CTL required a significant investment in technology and infrastructure, therefore the overall cost of producing CTL is generally higher than other fuels.
• Negative impact on land, water, and wildlife habitats
• Technological limitation as it is relatively new technology