synthetic petroleum

[claymore]

What is the chemical formula for gasoline? If it is possible to make synthetic oil , is it not possible to make synthetic petrol?

[Clanad]

I don't have the formula you ask for, but keep in mind, during the Second World War, Germany ran much of it's war machine on synthetic petroleum products... your petrol (I'm in the U.S.). The technology is some 70 years old. It's just that is only now becoming financially justifiable, since, for the last many decades crude oil has been so plentiful and cheap... here in the western U.S. advanced experiments are producing oil from geologic formations generally called oil shale. Additionally, Germany's source for the synthetic petroleum was coal. The U.S., near where I live in the western States has enough coal to power the entire U.S. for the next 500 years. Several of the coal beds are being exploited in a new process whereby the natural gas inherent in all coal beds is being extracted without removing the actual coal.

[Teddio]

Gasoline or petrol is a mixture of alkane hydrocarbons. Octane is a component having the formula C8H18. To make synthetic petrol or diesel you would have to have a feedstock containing hydrogen and carbon. Coal and water would do.

[DeathStalker]

The use of coal is a great answer to producing cheap fuel. When the world put sanctions on South Africa, they produced petrol out of coal and still do to this day. The only problem is that there is a huge pollution factor, and this is something that the world seems to have a big problem with. That is why the next step is to produce petrol from vegatable oil as its burn off is eco friendly, however this comes at a bigger financial cost.