synfuel

plural synfuels · alternative syn-fuel · alternative syn fuel · alternative synthfuel · alternative synth-fuel · alternative synth fuel · alternative synthetic fuel

1. countableuncountableAny of several fuels synthesized from coal or shale etc, or fermented from grain etc.

   President Jimmy Carter was proposing a major effort to increase U.S. energy independence by developing “synfuels”—liquid fuels made from coal, oil shales, and tar sands—and scientific experts had warned that this could accelerate CO₂ accumulation.

   2010, Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, chapter 6, in Merchants of Doubt

2. countableuncountableAny of several fuels created by chemical synthesis from simple feed stock inputs, of power, energy, heat, water, carbon dioxide, or simple compounds.