COAL TO LIQUID FUEL

During World War II, both Germany and Japan made liquid fuel from coal. But it required slave labor. Now, China and Montana are trying to do it for today’s marketplace, suggesting the companies involved expect oil prices to remain high long term. Who doesn’t?
Shell, China's Shenhua Coal to invest 6 bln usd in coal to liquid plant
07.16.2006 (Forbes)

- Shell Gas and Power Developments BV and Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Co Ltd will jointly invest 6 bln usd in a coal-to-liquids plant in northern China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region...Lim Haw Kuang, executive chairman of Shell in China, said Shell will offer its proprietary techniques for the project and a preliminary feasibility study on the project will be completed within three years.
Two Companies Agree to Study Coal-To-Gas
July 18, 2006 (Associated Press)
- Two companies, including a leading coal producer, have agreed to look at sites in Montana for a plant that would turn coal into diesel and jet fuel, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said...

- While there's been no firm commitment from Peabody Energy or Rentech Inc., Schweitzer told reporters here that the prospects for a plant being built -- likely in southern or eastern Montana -- are "very promising."
- The companies, in a joint news release, said they'd agreed to look at sites in Montana and unspecified parts of the Midwest for coal-to-liquids plants that could range in production capacity from 10,000 barrels of fuel per day to 30,000 barrels per day...