alternatehistory.com

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The short version is that it is possible to convert coal gas (produced by gasification of coal - captain obvious) to substitutes for petroleum spirit (gasoline) and diesel oil. This method has been used historically by Nazi Germany after being cut off from the Ploesti oil fields, as well as by South Africa under apartheid (and still today to some extent).

This method has never been used much in, say, the UK or USA, and I'm wondering why it wasn't tried in response to the 1973 oil embargo and the 1979 crisis after the Iranian Revolution, as both countries (along with Western Europe) have large coal reserves and high production. Is it simply that the economics of the process make it prohibitive unless there is literally no other option?
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