Certainly seems worth a try...

Darpa Wants Clean, Cheap Jet Fuel... From Coal

The Air Force is flying everything from supersonic fighter jets to hulking cargo planes on a synthetic fuel blend, derived largely from coal. The problem is, that stuff is worse for the environment as the old-school fuel. And it's expensive Enter Darpa,which is kick-staring a new, $4.5 million research effort to figure out how to turn coal into liquid fuel cheaply."