Coal for the Future?

At least that was what the Germans thought in the late 70's! German scientists at the time were trying to figure out a way to design a process for deriving gasoline from coal, due to fluctuating petroleum prices. The idea never really took off, but it provides a great example of how now matter how well you might think you can predict a trend (i.e. German scientists seeing coal gasoline as the wave of the future), you could be tottaly off the mark. [Link]