Sasol and the Liquid Coal Revolution

some companies are the children of closed markets and now are doing great in a free world - they began their existence and innovation for a reason - free markets were not allowed to operate. India's Wipro is often cited example. with the forced exit of IBM and other companies in the socialist revolution of the late 70s, firms like Wipro had a new market and were forced to innovate in the IT area. There are companies world over like this.

Sasol is terrific example. Due to the apartheid regime in south africa , oil was very difficult to get. so, they had to find a way out and focussed on improving the technology to get oil from coal. today, Sasol is worth $22 billion according to the stock market valuations!

"Liquid Coal: Then and Now

Enter an old technology that has been gaining plenty of new steam lately: Coal Liquefaction. The technology of producing a liquid fuel from coal or natural gas is hardly new. The Fischer-Tropsch process was developed by German researchers Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in 1923 and used by Germany and Japan during World War II to produce alternative fuels and overcome their limited access to oil. Germany utilized the technology to produce 6.5 million tons, or 124,000 barrels a day.

South Africa has also been producing liquid coal for a number of years, developing the technology to tap its large coal reserves and seeking ways around apartheid sanctions. In fact, liquid coal meets 30 percent of the transportation fuel needs in South Africa."

here

if u find more examples like these please do mail us, and we shall try to dig out more.