[HiTech RedNeck]

Coal pipelines were still being looked at in the 70s and 80s. I’m surprised that Germany was supposed to have gotten that down pat decades earlier.

[Tarpon]

You don't need coal pipelines, you put the conversion refinery in the coal fields, pump the resultant fuel. That way you don't end up with high transport costs for the material you don't use. The Crow Indians are building a plant right now, or at least planning and designing.

China has 10 coal to liquids plants in construction.

The conversion process is called Fischer-Tropsch.

Germany ran their entire WWII war machine on a Fischer-Tropsch process derivative. Germany has no oil, has lots of coal that is ideally suitable for conversion. It was a matter of necessity.

Google up "Fischer-Tropsch" it's one of the biggest secrets out there. Ignore the libtard claptrap on Wikipedia. One of the things to remember is methane, CH4, is the basis for most liquid hydrocarbons we use today. Methane is natural gas, which also converts easily into liquid fuels.