Correct you are. It actually pains me to see our natural gas and oil being used to power electrical generation. Coal can do it and cheaper if the EPA gets off their ass.
Oil and gas should be used for fuel in transportation and chemical synthesis of many products. You can also synthesize this from coal but it is a more expensive process and much less efficient. Coal should be used for boilers to make steam to make electricity. It is good stuff, abundant and cheap.
Agree, but if coal were converted to liquid or gaseous fuel, the conversion plants could be located near the coal fields and the product cheaply piped across country. Savings on transportation costs could offset the processing costs.
P.S. I’ve read the break even price for coal to diesel is around $45/bbl of oil.