Environmentalists frequently comment that coal gasification technology is not proven when they are citing reasons to be against coal gasification technology. The implication is that it’s not known if the technology works. This is a false statement. The technology is well proven. These type of statements are an injustice to Americans. A U.S. energy policy that continues to rely heavily on importing crude oil could pose a security risk to the country.
The best known reference for proven technology is SASOL is South Africa. SASOL has been operating coal-to-liquids plants for many years . . . even decades. While SASOL has many years of continuous operating experience, China has far exceeded this experience with the quantity of different coal gasification plant processes that have been built and are in the construction phase. China has many built coal gasification plants that produce many different products. The technology works and that is not disputable.
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Below is a list of the gasification projects in China.
| Name | Product | Gasifier | Status | Feed | Start |
| Zhenhai Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Vis. Resid | 1983 |
| Urumqi Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Vis. Resid | 1985 |
| Daqing Oxochemicals Plant | Oxo. | GE | Oper. | Vis. Resid | 1986 |
| Shaanxi Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | S-L | Oper. | Anthracite | 1987 |
| Zibu Methanol/Oxochemicals | Meth. Oxo. | Shell | Oper. | Vac. residue | 1987 |
| Ningxia Syngas Plant | Gases | GE | Oper. | Vis. Resid | 1988 |
| Fushun Oxochemicals Plant | Oxo. | Shell | Oper. | Vac. residue | 1991 |
| Lu Nan Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Bit. coal | 1993 |
| Wujing Gas Plant No. 2 | Fuel gas | U-GAS | Oper. | Bit. coal | 1994 |
| Beijing Oxochemicals Plant | Oxo. | GE | Oper. | Heavy oil | 1995 |
| Shanghai Coking & Chemical |
Methanol | GE | Oper. | Anthracite | 1995 |
| Dalian Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Vis. Resid | 1996 |
| Shaanxi Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Coal | 1996 |
| Hohhot Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | Shell | Oper. | Vac. residue | 1996 |
| Juijiang Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | Shell | Oper. | Vac. residue | 1996 |
| Gas Plant No. 2 | Methanol | GE | Oper. | Coal | 1997 |
| Lanzhou Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | Shell | Oper. | Natural Gas | 1998 |
| Puyang Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | S-L | Oper. | Anthracite | 2000 |
| Hefei City Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Coal | 2000 |
| Zhong Yuan Dahua Group Ltd. | Unk. | S-L | Oper. | 2000 | |
| Nanjing Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Vis. Resid | 2002 |
| Jilin Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Vis. Resid | 2003 |
| China 1 | Methanol | GE | Oper. | Coal | 2004 |
| Haolianghe Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Coal | 2004 |
| Sinopec, Zhijiang | Unk. | Shell | Oper. | Coal | 2005 |
| Liuzhou Chemical Industry | Ammonia | Shell | Oper. | Coal | 2005 |
| China 2 | Methanol | GE | Oper. | Coal | 2005 |
| Jinling | Ammonia | GE | Oper. | Coal | 2005 |
| China 4 | Amm, Urea | GE | Oper. | Coal, Pet. | 2005 |
| China 3 | Amm., H2 | GE | Oper. | Coal, Pet. | 2005 |
| Shaanxi Shenmu Chemical Plant | Unk. | GE | Oper. | 2005 | |
| Dong Ting Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | Shell | Startup | Coal | 2006 |
| Hubei Ammonia Plant | Ammonia | Shell | Startup | Coal | 2006 |
| Shuanghuan Chemical | Unk. | Shell | Oper. | Coal | 2006 |
| Sinopec, Yueyang | Unk. | Shell | Oper. | Coal | 2006 |
| Sinopec | Ammonia | Shell | Startup | Coal | 2006 |
| China 5 | Methanol | GE | Oper. | Coal | 2006 |
| Sinopec Wuhan, Hubei | Unk. | Shell | Startup | 2006 | |
| Weihe Chemical | Unk. | GE | Startup | 2006 | |
| Dahua Chemicals | Methanol | Shell | Startup | Coal | 2007 |
| Yuntianhua Chemicals | Ammonia | Shell | Startup | Coal | 2007 |
| Yunzhanhua Chemicals | Ammonia | Shell | Startup | Coal | 2007 |
| Yongcheng Chemicals | Methanol | Shell | Eng. | Coal | 2007 |
| Fujian Refinery Ethylene Project |
Unk. | Shell | Const. | 2007 | |
| Shenhua | H2 | Shell | Const. | Coal | 2008 |
| Kaixiang Chemical Plant | Unk. | Shell | Const. | 2008 | |
| Yongcheng Shell Plant | Unk. | Shell | Const. | 2008 | |
| Puyang Plant | Unk. | Shell | Const. | 2008 | |
| Tianjin Chemical Plant | Unk. | Shell | Devel. | 2010 | |
| Guizhou Chemical Plant | Unk. | Shell | Devel. | 2010 | |
| Inner Mongolia Chemical Plant | Unk. | Shell | Devel. | 2011 | |
| Legend: | |||||
| S-L = Sasol Lurgi | |||||
| GE = General Electric | |||||
| Vis. Resid = Visbreaker residue | |||||
| Vac. Residue = vacuum residue | |||||
| Oxo. = Oxochemicals | |||||
| Meth. = methanol | |||||
| Amm. = ammonia | |||||
| Pet. = petcoke | |||||
| Oper. = operating | |||||
| Eng. = engineering | |||||
| Const. = construction | |||||
| Devel. = development | |||||
