If the process was as economic as they claimed, in the past 5 years they would have built more than the original pilot plant. They have not.
http://www.synfuels.com/Plant.html
This is the one I told you about. Did you visit or research it?
A San Francisco firm apparently has a startup initiated for the UC Santa Barbara process (there was a March article this year [2013] about that startup].
With all the activity with Natural Gas, seems like someone might pick up on this -- if it is feasible.
The EPA might have a problem with a process that gives off CO2... Otherwise, I wonder why myself...
Appears CO2 is the only byproduct/product except gasoline.
Did you factor in all of the EPA permits they had to obtain just to build the test plant?
I admire the scientists and engineers that solve these problems, however the only problem they have yet to solve is how to get Uncle Sam out of their way and back pockets so their solutions can become reality for the rest of us...
This is why we will never see any of these refineries constructed. To paraphrase Obama, they can have them but it will just be so expensive that they cannot afford to build them.