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What does the buyer have to lose?

The short form is (of course): Money. If you have bought the future commodity, you have already paid your money. Your potential gain is that you have paid less for the commodity than the going price at that time.

Two things can go wrong. First, if the 'seller' of the future commodity (notionally, in this case, the exploiter/producer of a coal gas process) defaults, then you're out your money entirely (less whatever you can get back by suing the failed provider). Second, if the price falls then you may have bought your commodity at a higher price than prevails when the contract comes due. Thus, you still lose money, though not all of it. If the current producers decide to undercut the new method by selling their product at less than the futures price as a way of stifling competition, then you have made a bad choice to 'buy' the future commodity at coal-gas prices.

Of course I understand that futures is hedging and that buying a commodity at a future price can work against you.

But contracts for deliver on the futures market take many different structures and need not involve upfront payment. For example, growing up farming, we sold a portion of our future crop in the Spring for delivery the following Spring. We never collected a dime until we delivered. Failing to deliver, we were responsible to purchase commodity to deliver, at then current prices. This is how oil products are generally contracted. e.g. the airlines. If you had to pay 100% up front, it wouldn't be a futures market, it would be the current market with stockpiling/warehousing.

Why? The oil supplier is hedging against falling prices, the purchaser is hedging against rising prices. Both are willing to settle on something they can live with.

Wind generated power is being sold in this fashion now in order to back its capitalization costs. Users agree to pay a set amount (lock in) electrical rates for a given period. So far they are doing a booming business.

The example here would be to contract the coal-oil for delivery at $55 a barrel in a large enough quantity to recoup for your capitalization costs.

If oil goes below the profit threshold, you will go out of business, but the investors will at least break even. If oil holds or increases, you sell your non-contracted product at market prices.