Is there a way to create Synthetic oil out of Carbon-based material?

August 31st, 2008 by admin | Filed under Earth Sciences & Geology.
synthetic diamonds
Finswimmer asked:


Crude oil is the result of Carbon based sediments which get covered by other sedimentation, if you add the right amount of pressure and heat then crude oil is the result, my question is, is there a way to replicate this process synthetically?, there are Synthetic diamonds that are created in the lab and they replicate the conditions that make diamonds form, is there a way to do the same with Crude Oil?

Tags: , ,

4 Responses to “Is there a way to create Synthetic oil out of Carbon-based material?”

  1. Loren S | 2/09/08

    YES ALTHOUGH I AM UNAWARE AS TO THE METHOD OF EXTRACTION. SEE ATTACHED LINK

  2. paul h | 3/09/08

    Nazi Germany used a method of oil extraction from coal towards the end of WWII when oil shortages were critical. It can be done only it’s not as cheap as the real stuff. Oil shales or sands containg oil are much more promising in that there are trillions of tons of them in Canada and beneath the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere. They are more expensive to extract than oil wells but methods are being developed to make the process more efficient. Could extend oil reserves for hundreds of years.

  3. amansscientiae | 4/09/08

    South Africa is doing it now. They have tons of coal and not enough oil. It makes sense if oil prices are high and you couldn’t care less about global warming.

    Otherwise you should stick to buying a hybrid and convert to electric cars as soon as they become available. Oil is, for all practical purposes, finished. Except that most people don’t realize it, yet.

  4. morris | 7/09/08

    Gasoline and most petroleum based fuels can be made from coal , shale , and other sources. In fact there is enough of these resources for another 1000 years. the problem is that it is much more costly. Pumping crude oil is cheap energy. The problem of air pollution and carbon build up in the air should be a consideration though. We can’t continue putting millions of tons of pollution into our atmosphere.