The Unfulfilled Promise of Synthetic Fuels: Technological Failure, Policy Immobilism, or Commercial Illusion

(Hardback)

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The dismantling of the Synthetic Fuels Corporation and the shelving of scores of synfuel plant proposals have triggered a need for a searching inquiry into the reasons why the initial promise of synfuels has not been realized. In this volume a distinguished group of political scientists, policy analysts, and energy planners apply the critical tools of economic, scientific, and political analysis in an attempt to illuminate why the dream of synthetic fuels development has ended, at least temporarily. The essays collected here grapple with a variety of problems surrounding the rise and demise of synthetic fuels development in the 1970s.

Reviews

The history of the Synthetic Fuels Corporation closely parallels synthetic fuel development efforts of the 1920s and 1950s: a crisis-inspired group of corporate, political, and military players attempts to rally governmental and public opinion behind a technological solution; high public expectations are aroused by grandiose scenarios presented by scientists and engineers; the political machinery, dedicated to establishing energy independence through the technological fix throws massive public funding behind the concept: long-term programs are established and demonstration plants constructed; as the crisis suddenly subsides, the technology's commercial promise fades, and plants are mothballed. Historical perspectives on synthetic fuels development, political and policy factors, and lessons and future prospects are the three main categories under which this volume's ten papers are grouped.-Energy Review
"The history of the Synthetic Fuels Corporation closely parallels synthetic fuel development efforts of the 1920s and 1950s: a crisis-inspired group of corporate, political, and military players attempts to rally governmental and public opinion behind a technological solution; high public expectations are aroused by grandiose scenarios presented by scientists and engineers; the political machinery, dedicated to establishing energy independence through the technological fix throws massive public funding behind the concept: long-term programs are established and demonstration plants constructed; as the crisis suddenly subsides, the technology's commercial promise fades, and plants are mothballed. Historical perspectives on synthetic fuels development, political and policy factors, and lessons and future prospects are the three main categories under which this volume's ten papers are grouped."-Energy Review

Author Bio

ERNEST J. YANARELLA is Professor of Political Science at the University of Kentucky. WILLIAM C. GREEN is Associate Professor of Government at Morehead State University and Research Associate at the Institute for Mining and Minerals Research, University of Kentucky.