NOTES 123 



press that the Commonwealth Government is endeavouring to obtain the services 

 of Prof. Maxwell Lefroy, for one year, for this purpose. 



Bulletin No. 6 deals with the question of Power-Alcohol, and it will be con- 

 venient here to consider at the same time a most excellent monograph written by 

 Mr. Robert N. Tweedy, entitled "Industrial Alcohol" (Co-operative Reference 

 Library, Plunkett House, Dublin, 191 7. Price is. net). The subject is of great 

 importance for two reasons : first, because the world is using the existing limited 

 supply of mineral oils faster than their rate of production, and secondly, because 

 the production of denatured alcohol is an important and profitable industry which, 

 owing to the blindness of officialdom, has been almost entirely neglected in this 

 country. The problem naturally falls into two parts — that of production and 

 denaturation, and that of utilisation. In Germany the potato is the chief source of 

 the supply, and in 1913 some 70,000,000 gallons of alcohol (90 per cent, absolute) 

 were distilled from potatoes, 3,000,000 tons being used for the purpose out of a 

 total crop of 50,000,000 tons grown on over 8,000,000 acres of land. The industry 

 in that country owes its success in part to a bonus on alcohol used for other than 

 beverage purposes (which is provided by a tax levied on the latter), and in part to 

 efficient co-operation between the farm, distillery, and market. In France the 

 chief raw material is beet. In 1912 18,000,000 gallons of denatured spirit were 

 produced ; but the industry was handicapped by the onerous regulations governing 

 the denaturation. These regulations made the spirit expensive and unsuitable for 

 lighting and internal-combustion engines. Apparently they have been withdrawn 

 since the war began, and it is the intention of the French Government to make 

 alcohol a cheap national motor fuel. Even in the U.S.A. steps are being taken 

 to develop the alcohol industry : in the United Kingdom it hardly exists. 

 In 1914 only 77 million gallons of denatured spirit were manufactured, and 

 there is no record that any of it was used for light, heat or power. In 191 5 

 we imported 120,000,000 gallons of petrol, and the equivalent quantity of alcohol 

 might easily have been produced at home. Five million tons of potatoes only 

 would be necessary, and 600,000 acres, properly cultivated to yield 12 tons per 

 acre, would have provided the crop for food and for the alcohol. Beet could 

 be grown instead if it were desirable. The Australian Committee has gone very 

 completely into all the possible sources of alcohol in that Continent, and concludes 

 that, while potatoes would be too expensive, large crops of Sorghum (S. saccharatum) 

 could probably be grown yielding 100-180 gallons per acre ; while Cassava, which 

 gives a higher yield, might be equally suitable. Synthetic alcohol is possible, and 

 one process is being worked successfully by a Swiss hydro-electric company, which 

 is able to sell pure spirit at is. 8^. per Imperial gallon. 



On the Continent the price of the spirit compares favourably with coal, gas 

 and oil, so that it is used for domestic purposes in addition to its use in various 

 industrial operations. For power purposes a special engine is required if the best 

 results are to be obtained, though petrol engines can be adapted to run on alcohol 

 as was demonstrated in Germany early in the war, when the Russians had overrun 

 Galicia and shortage of petrol was threatening disaster to the German transport 

 service. With petrol at 40" ^d. per gallon and alcohol at 30^. the cost per horse- 

 power hour is the same using the same engine and assuming that with petrol it 

 has a thermal efficiency of 20 per cent., while when altered for alcohol it has an 

 efficiency of 22*5 per cent. Specially designed alcohol engines will give 30 per 

 cent, or more with a corresponding decrease in fuel cost. The increased thermal 

 efficiency is due to the increased compressions (as high as 180-200 lb. per sq. in.) 

 which can be employed without danger of pre-ignition. With petrol 80 lb. per 



