My reading was that the risk increases as the capital raising...

My reading was that the risk increases as the capital raising requirement goes up; going right through to liquid fuel (diesel) requires the most cash before any cashflow is established and therefore is the most risky.

Feeding the syngas into a power station is relatively cheap and establishes cash flow straight away (this is what Cougar proposes). What the company/shareholders do with the incoming cash is their business. Building a liquid fuel plant using profits from electricity sales is one option, and one that could be accomplished without the massive dilution that would be necessary to go directly to liquid fuel conversion.

Other options exist. Hydrogen could be filtered from the syngas and sold for fuelcell vehicles/power plants/fitted engines.