"UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced that it will partner with the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute to develop and commercialize new technology to transform carbon dioxide into clean-burning alternative fuels.
USC developed fundamental chemistry to transform carbon dioxide to methanol or dimethyl ether, two potentially cleaner-burning alternatives to traditional transportation fuels, thereby reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas known to contribute to global warming.
Nobel Laureate and USC College Distinguished Professor George Olah, director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, his colleague G.K. Surya Prakesh and their team of researchers have developed fundamental chemistry that could aid in the improved production of methanol and/or dimethyl ether from a variety of sources such as natural gas, coal and carbon dioxide."
To repeat: California researchers developed technology to improve the "production of methanol and ... dimethyl ether from ... coal and carbon dioxide".
Not that we couldn't do that previously, mind you, but, the technology to convert Coal and Carbon Dioxide into liquid fuels is being improved - in California!