By Ijaz Kakakhel ISLAMABAD: The government has planned a project for the purchase of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) reactor for laboratory scale conversion of coal gas into liquid diesel, sources told Daily Times here on Saturday. In this regard a PC-1 is under process. Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) is in close coordination with several suppliers abroad for the purchase of the FTS reactors for conversion of coal gas into diesel on laboratory scale. These include Chinese and US suppliers. However purchase would be carried out on completion of codal formalities, the sources maintained. The sources claimed that the production of diesel from coal involves a number of steps including preparation of a catalyst, preparation of Carbon Monoxide Gas on Pilot Plant Scale, designing and fabrication of reactor, a 1 litre gas capacity Fischer Tropsch Reactor has been designed and fabricated from indigenous resources. The production of diesel from coal is carried out through Syngas (carbon monoxide + hydrogen). The coal has been converted into Syngas but as the gas purifying unit was not available at the PCSIR Labs Complex, Karachi, which is prerequisite for the conversion of Syngas gas into diesel. A small quantity of diesel was produced using purified Syngas at lab scale, which was tested and found comparable with commercially available diesel. The sources said coal is the cheapest and the most common fuel used directly or indirectly to produce electricity and heat in the world today. Global coal consumption was about 6.7 billion tonnes in 2006 and is expected to increase 48 percent to 9.98 billion tonnes by 2030, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). China produced 2.38 billion tonnes in 2006. India produced about 447.3 million tonnes and Pakistan mined only about 8 million tonnes in 2006. 68.7 percent of China’s electricity comes from coal. Thar desert region in Pakistan is endowed with one of the largest coal reserves in the world. Discovered in early 1990s, the Thar Coal has not yet been developed to produce usable energy. With the devastating increases in imported oil bill and the growing shortages of gas and electricity in the country, the coal development is finally beginning to get the attention it deserves. Coal contributes about 20 percent of the worldwide greenhouse gas emissions but it is the cheapest fuel available, according to Pew Centre on Global Climate Change. It can provide usable energy at a cost of between $1 and $2 per MMBtu compared to $6 to $12 per MMBtu for oil and natural gas, and coal prices are relatively stable. Coal is inherently higher polluting and more carbon-intensive than other energy alternatives.