Air Force drops plan to make fuel from coal in Montana

WASHINGTON


The B1, B52 and C-17 already have been certified to run on the coal-mix blend, and the F-15, F-22, C-5 and KC-135 all have also used the blend, Strasburg said.

The Air Force is looking for alternatives to oil to make sure that it can continue to operate its aircraft when supplies are tight. The coal-to-liquid conversion process, however, is expensive to set up and there are no full-scale plants in the U.S.

Liquid fuel from coal produces more than twice the greenhouse gas emissions as conventional petroleum-based fuel.

McClatchy