The page on this pull down menu entitled “Excerpt from the National Academy of Sciences”  is a copy of page 191 from the 2008 “Liquid Transportation Fuels from Coal and Biomass: Technological Status, Costs, and Environmental Impacts” by the National Academy of Sciences.  This gives construction costs for coal to liquid plants as well as produced liquid fuel costs based on a $52.16 per ton high grade (Illinois) delivered coal.  The cost to produce gasoline based on the CTL-MTG without CCS including the cost of coal was given as $1.47 per gallon.  The wholesale price of gasoline is over $3.00 per gallon as of this writing, which is double the total cost to convert coal to gasoline given in the paper.

The cost of coal per gallon for this process was given as $0.57.  By using these numbers to make gasoline for $3.00 per gallon with biocarbon you can pay about $200.00 per ton of delivered biocarbon.  This is an attractive number for people wishing to get into the business of making biocarbon.  Gasoline made using biocarbon instead of coal can be made cost effectively and can compete directly with petroleum based gasoline without subsidies while remaining carbon neutral.