Consider the following substances: 1. Ethanol 2. Nitroglycerine 3. Urea Coal gasification technology can be used in the production of how many of them?

States that coal (or lignite) gasification produces hydrogen (grey hydrogen) and that coal gasification is an established means of producing gaseous hydrogen-rich streams.

A student could infer that if coal gasification yields H2/CO-containing gas, they should check whether H2/CO (syngas) can be chemically converted into liquid alcohols like ethanol.

Defines pyrolysis/gasification as processes that produce syngas composed mainly of CO, H2 and hydrocarbons and notes the need to 'clean' syngas before further use.

One could extend this by looking up catalytic processes that use cleaned syngas (CO + H2) as feedstock to synthesize chemicals or fuels, including whether ethanol is among them.

Describes that methanol is produced from coal and other carbon sources (including converting coal reserves into methanol), showing an example of converting coal-derived syngas into a liquid oxygenate fuel.

A student could compare the industrial pathway from syngas→methanol with possible syngas→ethanol routes to judge plausibility and search for analogous catalytic processes for ethanol.

Notes that biomass gasification also produces syngas which is then processed to useful products, indicating a general pattern: gasification → syngas → downstream chemical synthesis.

Use this general pattern to ask whether the downstream products from syngas can include ethanol and to investigate technologies that convert biomass- or coal-derived syngas into alcohols.

Explains ethanol production via fermentation of biomass (sugarcane) as the common route for ethanol, highlighting that biological routes are established alternatives to chemical synthesis.

A student could use this to contrast biological fermentation routes with potential chemical synthesis from syngas, prompting investigation of when chemical (syngas-based) routes are used instead of fermentation.