This article reports action by the U.S. Air Force to assist the efforts to produce jet fuel from coal. As the government's largest purchaser of fuel, the Air Force is in a good position to move this issue forward.
Three things the article doesn't mention. First, during WWII the Germans produced diesel from coal since they had plenty of Ruhr coal but limited petroleum production, mostly from Romania. Second, the United States has the world's largest reserves of coal. Finding cost-effective ways to transform these generous coal reserves into usable-in-vehicles liquid fuels like jet fuel and diesel would be a giant step forward in reducing our dependency on foreign oil. Third, the current high prices for oil make alternative fuels like these more affordable by comparison.
I hope it goes without saying that the foreign governments controlling the bulk of the world's petroleum reserves are, to varying degrees, hostile to U.S. interests: think Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
