Nick Rahall and coal to jet fuel

First, the text of a news release that arrived today from Nick Rahall's office:

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-WV, and other Members of Congress in support of coal-to-liquid technology joined representatives from industry and labor today on Capitol Hill to unveil the National Coal to Liquids (CTL) Coalition, formed to help increase America's national security by decreasing its dependence on foreign oil through development of coal-derived transportation fuels.

"The formation of this Coalition marks the start of an exciting new era for coal and its role in our national security," Rahall said. "It marks a renewed effort to wean our nation off of foreign oil - to help sever the bonds of unstable foreign regimes, and reduce the risk of being drawn into future wars over oil."

At 93 percent of total government consumption, the Defense Department is the U.S. government's largest user of fuels, according to the Defense Energy Support Center. Of all four branches, the Air Force consumes the most, at 52 percent, or 2.5 billion gallons annually. Rahall was recently a featured speaker at the inaugural U.S. Air Force Energy Forum, following which he announced that he will participate in a conference this summer in southern West Virginia to boost the development of state-of-the-art coal-to-liquids (CTL) production plants with the newly formed national CTL coalition and the U.S. Defense Department, in particular the U.S. Air Force.

"The Air Force has recognized that coal can be one of the strongest weapons in its arsenal for avoiding wars of the future. Wind turbines, solar power, biofuels - none of them hold the potential for ensuring the continued strength of America's military like coal," Rahall said.

"Clearly, coal really is America's most promising fuel of the future - and the more we invest in it, the greater an energy asset this natural resource will prove to be," Rahall continued. "The newly-formed CTL Coalition is one example of how we can give this important issue the attention it deserves."

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Okay, I like the idea of making liquid fuel from coal, especially for military purposes. The one thing that comes to my mind is that if there were any money in it, private enterprise would have been all over it by now. Maybe it's too capital-intensive for such a speculative venture. I don't know.

Or maybe it's one of those things where the major companies will wait for someone else to take the risk and develop the technology so they can come in later with their deep pockets and buy up the best patents and processes.

But we do need to pursue the idea as far as we will take it, not abandon it at the first hint of distress, the way the H-Coal plant was.