Economics & Finance / Industry & Sectors / Energy & Resources

Turning Coal Into Jet Fuel: The Secret Tech That Terrifies OPEC

Producing Liquid Fuels from Coal: Prospects and Policy Issues

James T. Bartis, Frank Camm, David S. Ortiz

What if the global energy map we have believed for a century is entirely backwards? For decades, foreign policy has been dictated by the fear of running out of foreign crude oil. Yet right beneath our feet lies a 270-billion-ton reserve that can be transformed directly into high-octane gasoline, diesel, and crystal-clear aviation fuel without drilling a single new oil well. This presentation dismantles the chemistry, economics, and game theory behind coal-to-liquids technology, based on the landmark RAND Corporation study, Producing Liquid Fuels from Coal: Prospects and Policy Issues, co-authored by senior policy researchers Dr. James T. Bartis, Frank Camm, and David S. Ortiz. Dr. Bartis and his team deliver an exhaustive examination of alternative synthetic fuels, industrial scale-up barriers, and US strategic energy security. Across this visual breakdown, explore the hidden mechanics that could reshape global power: - The brute-force chemistry of gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis that vaporizes coal rock and rebuilds it into fuel cleaner than standard petroleum. - The surprising climate loophole: How combining coal with ordinary agricultural switchgrass and underground carbon storage creates a carbon-neutral liquid fuel ready for commercial airliners. - The OPEC paradox: Why corporate boardrooms are paralyzed by predatory price-dumping risks despite stellar operating margins. - The macroeconomic dividend: How adding just a few million barrels of synthetic fuel forces global crude prices downward, saving taxpayers tens of billions at the pump. - The Pentagon dilemma: Why the world's largest institutional fuel buyer wants synthetic jet fuel immediately, and the procurement knot stopping it. Understand how a forgotten 80-year-old technology combined with modern industrial engineering offers the ultimate insurance policy against global energy blackmail.