A member of UW’s faculty is headed to Washington D.C.
Maohong Fan, a professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, was appointed to the National Coal Council, a private advisory group that provides recommendations on coal related issues.
“I was really happy, I am honored to serve the council, to help the coal industry and to send correct and wise words to coal industries,” Fan said.
Fan said that he would strive to represent Wyoming in the National Coal Council.
“I’ll try to send the state’s words to the council to tell people there that Wyoming can develop a clean coal technology and to help to accelerate economic development in the state and other states as well,” Fan said.
Fan expects a number of challenges in the coal industry in the upcoming years. This includes providing consumers with high-value products as well as minimizing carbon dioxide emissions.
Fan said, “I think the most challenging approach is try to use cheap materials to produce high value products, in other words producing a high value product with an economically low price.”
Fan expects the future of coal sales to be strongly shaped by the future coal and fossil fuels regulations, however coal-based economies, like Wyoming, should develop technologies that advance the industry.
“As a coal based economy you have to develop technologies for the next 10 or 20 years,” Fan said.
Fan expects the demand for coal to increase in the upcoming years because energy resources are limited.
“All fossil fuels and natural resources are limited, eventually coal should come back, it is just a matter of a time, producers who are going to advance their technology will dominate the market,” Fan said.
Fan reveled that there will be technologies to convert coal into chemical liquids in the future.
Fan said, “There are approaches such as liquid fracturing which converts black coal to different liquids.”
Fan said that China’s role in the coal industry might dictate the industry’s future.,
“Wyoming is the largest coal producer in the U.S. However, China is the world’s largest coal producer, but this may change depending on the resource distribution and economic policies in different countries,” he said.
