Carbon Sciences Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to make gasoline and other transportation fuels from natural gas and carbon dioxide, announced on September 21 that recent plans for a major project in Louisiana “confirm that a gas-to-liquids (GTL (News - Alert)) strategy is [America’s] best approach for energy independence.”

Johannesburg, South African energy and chemicals group Sasol said earlier this month that it has chosen the southwestern region of the State of Louisiana as the site for the first-ever U.S. plant to produce GTL transportation fuels and other products.

Sasol Managing Director of New Business Development Ernst Oberholster commented, “We believe Sasol’s proprietary GTL technology can help unlock the potential of Louisiana’s clean and abundant natural gas resources and contribute to an affordable, reliable, and high-quality fuel supply for the United States.”

Sasol will embark on a feasibility study to evaluate the viability of a GTL venture in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, over the next 18 months. The feasibility study will consider two options: a facility that produces two million tons per annum or a facility that produces four million tons per annum.

Although found in abundant supply at affordable prices in the United States and worldwide, natural gas cannot be used directly in cars, trucks, trains, and planes without a massive overhaul of the existing transportation infrastructure. Innovating at the forefront of chemical engineering, Santa Barbara, California-based Carbon Sciences is developing a highly scalable, clean-tech process to transform natural gas into liquid transportation fuels— such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The key to this cost-effective process is a proprietary methane dry-reforming catalyst that consumes carbon dioxide.

Carbon Sciences CEO Byron Elton commented, “It is clear that using abundant, domestic natural gas as the feedstock for transportation fuels is an affordable and environmentally responsible way to advance energy security and stimulate economic growth. The main challenge in using this readily available resource is that natural gas cannot be pumped directly into our existing vehicles. However, with GTL technology, America’s vast reserves of natural gas can be converted into liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, which can be used directly in our cars, ships and planes. We believe that the proposed GTL facility in Louisiana is a step in the right direction for the United States and the world.”

“GTL fuels are an important part of the energy mix because they can advance energy independence in a way that is both cost-efficient and environmentally friendly,” said Sasol’s Oberholster. In addition, unlike other proposed alternatives to conventional petroleum-based fuels, GTL fuel is used in existing vehicles and fuel delivery infrastructure without modifications.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said, “Without question, the Haynesville Shale and other unconventional natural gas plays are transforming the energy economy in the United States. LSU’s new economic impact study – commissioned by Sasol – reveals that the complex’s construction, alone, will generate another $1.73 billion in additional business activity, and over 12,000 new jobs associated with $577 million in personal earnings during the five-year construction period. Once fully operational, the facility would lead to more economic activity in the state to the tune of nearly $919 million a year.”

The Haynesville Shale is an informal, popular name for a rock formation – about 9,000 square miles in size, and 200 feet to 300 feet thick – that lies beneath large parts of southwestern Arkansas, northwest Louisiana, and East Texas at depths of 10,500 feet  to 13,000 feet below the land’s surface. It contains vast quantities of recoverable natural gas. This natural gas is known as “shale gas,” because the wells produce from low permeability mudstones that are also the source for the natural gas.