116 Journal of Agrictdture, Tictoria. [11 Feb., 1918 



Por one or more of tliese reasons, certain materials, such as wheat, 

 waste fruit, barley, potatoes, and prickly pear, are at once ruled out of 

 court as suitable raw materials for the manufacture of alcohol in Aus- 

 tralia. On the other hand, certain materials, such as sorghum (sweet) 

 stalks, cassava, and sorghum grain, offer favorable opportunities as a 

 source of alcohol, and if some stimulus or inducement were offered for 

 the manufacture of power-alcohol it appears that there is a favorable 

 opponuuity for the establishment on a large scale of a new and'important 

 industry in the Commonwealth. A large amount of information regard- 

 ing various raw materials is given in the report. Of the native plants, 

 ihe only two worthy of serious consideration as a source for the manu- 

 facture of alcohol are the Zamia palm (Macrozamia) and the grass-tree 

 (Xanthorrhcea). 



Government regulation of the process of manufacture of alcohol — 

 under the Commonwealth Distillation and Spirits Acts — is necessary to 

 protect the Excise revenue, but such regulation results in an increase in 

 the price of alcohol estimated at about 5d. per gallon. Of that sum, 

 about '3d. is due to the extra cost caused by fiscal restrictions on the manu- 

 facture of the spirit, the remaining 2d. being the cost of methylation or 

 denaturation now required for industrial spirits under the Spirits Act 

 1906. 



As the margin of profit between the price of ])ower-alcohol and that 

 of petrol is at present small, having regard to the comparative costs of 

 the fuels per horse-power hour, a sum of 5d. per gallon may make all the 

 difference between profit and loss, and in attracting the necessary capital 

 for the establishment of an industry of national urgency and im])ortance. 



The Corrimittee have considered the question of methylation, and, as 

 the result of their experiments, have concluded that the distillates 

 obtained from coal tar oil at a temperature of from 170° C. to 230° C. 

 fulfil the conditions necessary for an ideal denaturant better than the 

 denaturants at present in use. Moreover, the cost of such distillates is 

 less than the cost of alcohol, and if they were used as a denaturant they 

 would accordingly cheapen the cost per gallon of denatured power- 

 alcohol, whereas the materials now used for the methylation of " indus- 

 trial spirits " result in an increase in price. 



The Committee accordingly recommends that, in order to develop the 

 use of alcohol for power purposes, and to encourage the production of 

 the raw material upon which the manufacture of power-alcohol 

 depends — 



1. The manufacture and use in Australia should be pennitted of 



" power-alcohol," denatured with 2 per cent, of these dis- 

 tillates. 



2. That an allowance at the rate of 3d. per gallon be granted by 



the Commonwealth Govennnent on " power-alcohol " 

 denatured in the above manner and manufactured in Aus- 

 tralia from raw materials produced in Australia, by way of 

 reimbursement of the extra cost caused by fiscal restrictions 

 on the manufacture of alcohol. 



3. That a bonus, also at the rate of 3d. per gallon, be granted by 



the Commonwealth Government on such " power-alcohol," in 

 order to encourage its manufacture and to develop the 

 primary industries on which the supply of the necessary raw 

 material depends. 



