It's easy to see the logic here - the US Department of Defense guzzles its way through 300,000 barrels of liquid fuel a day, relying on foreign oil to meet that need. The US has an estimated 275 billion tons of coal reserves. Convert that coal to liquid fuel and - hey presto - you could sever the dependency on foreign oil .
The technology even exists - the Nazis were producing liquid coal using indirect synthesis via the Fischer-Tropsch process in the 1940s. But that in itself is revealing - this isn't a very economical process, and was perhaps only viable in Nazi Germany as a last resort when oil resources dried up.
A Google search for 'liquid coal' offers little comfort. Coming in at number 3 is "Liquid Coal is a Bad Deal for Global Warming", while at number 6 is "Why Liquid Coal Is Not a Viable Option to Move America Beyond Oil".
The US Air Force itself would tend to agree: on 5 August they appear to be on the verge of abandoning their own attempts at converting liquid to coal. Time will tell if DARPA succeeds where the US Air Force has failed.
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