A new report by RAND finds that oil sands and coal-to-liquids have high potential to be cost competitive with crude oil.

Many in the United States will push for using synthetic crude oil (aka, oil sands) and coal-to-liquids technologies in order to loosen the grip of Middle Eastern petrostates and lower gas prices.

The problem is that these new North American fuel sources have a high environmental cost and will do nothing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, synthetic crude has a carbon footprint 15-20 percent higher than the good old Saudi Sauce variety. The report concludes that even carbon capture and storage (CCS) would bring these emissions about equal to conventional crude.

Finally, the authors of the study find that even putting a price on carbon may not keep these technologies from being competitive because oil prices aren't expected to drop significantly anytime soon.

So if you were counting on high oil prices and peak oil to boost alternative fuels, you may want to add Big Sand to the list of carbon profiteers you're worried about.