Innovative liquid fuel technologies, including Biomass-to-Liquid (BTL), Gasto-Liquid (GTL), and Coal-to-Liquid (CTL), have received renewed attention as the world moves towards cleaner and safer energy systems. These technologies help aid energy diversification, increased fuel flexibility, and decreased reliance on crude oil, but their development is hampered by technical, economic, environmental, and policy challenges. This paper examines BTL, GTL, and CTL technologies comparatively, focusing on their relative costs, energy efficiencies, and their evolution vis-à-vis policy frameworks in the global North and in resource-rich, developing countries. With its theoretically carbon-neutral marketed BTL remaining aligned to renewable energy goals despite challenges of scale, high feedstock costs, and land use. In gas-rich countries like Qatar, GTL has matured commercially, providing high-quality, albeit capitalintensive, fuel and serving as a source of carbon emissions in the absence of effective carbon capture. Coal-rich countries, like South Africa, have energy independence due to CTL, but it remains the most carbon-intensive fuel and poses its own challenges requiring stringent regulatory control and strong economic incentives for decarbonisation. From case studies conducted in Nigeria, South Africa, and Qatar, I observe that while technologies can assist in energy diversification in the short and medium term, their long-term sustainability depends on carbon policy, fiscal creativity, and cross-border cooperation on net-zero emissions. The study demonstrates that future adoption of BTL, GTL, and CTL systems should focus on aligned technoeconomic models, systemic carbon pricing, and transition policies that account for energy security and sustainability.