What is another name for synthetic gas made from coal?

Synthetic gas made from coal is called syngas, short for synthesis gas. It is produced through coal gasification, a process that heats coal with a controlled amount of oxygen and steam rather than burning it completely.

The resulting gas is mainly a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, although coal-derived syngas can also contain carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour and other compounds. Its exact composition depends on the coal, temperature, pressure and gasification technology used.

Syngas is not the same as natural gas. It is an intermediate industrial material that can be burned to generate electricity or processed into chemicals, hydrogen, methanol and synthetic liquid fuels. Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, for example, converts syngas into hydrocarbons such as diesel and jet-fuel components.

Coal gasification has older roots in the production of coal gas, also called town gas, which was once used for street lighting and heating. Modern syngas systems generally focus on electricity generation, chemical production or fuel conversion, though they also raise significant carbon-emissions concerns.