September i, 192 i] 



NATURE 



'9 



in tons, or 10 per cent, in potential therms. Sir 

 Georgia Beilby discussed the possible exhaustion 

 of these resources in view of the rapid develop- 

 ment in the use of motor spirit for motor trans- 

 port and of fuel oil for transport by sea. He 

 pointed out that it is only the rapid development 

 of production in Mexico and the extensive interests 

 of the United States in this production which 

 have prevented the actual danger of shortage in 

 America from becoming- acute, and gave a long 

 extract from a statement by Mr. J. O. Lewis, 

 chief petroleum technologist to the United States 

 Bureau of Mines, defining the position in that 

 country. The conclusion of this authority is that 

 America is quite rightly concerned over the 

 domestic supplies of petroleum from oil wells, but, 

 on the other hand, there are known deposits of 

 oil shales which, in three States alone, promise 

 to yield many times more oil than will ever be 

 recovered from the oil wells of the United States, 

 and that there is no concern as to the ultimate 

 supply. He also believes it probable that even- 

 tually alcohol could meet the American needs 

 should gasoline fail. 



This brought Sir George Beilby to the considera- 

 tion of alcohol, and to the inquiries of Mr. Walter 

 Long's Committee, and of the Fuel Research 

 Board with Sir Frederick Nathan as Power 

 Alcohol Investigation Officer, With alcohol one 

 difficulty is that the most suitable raw materials 

 for its manufacture are as a rule also important 

 foodstuffs, but experiments in Burma appear to 

 indicate that the joint production of alcohol and 

 paper from waste rice straw should be commer- 

 cially possible, and research work for developing 

 the use of cellulosic materials in alcohol produc- 

 tion is reported as in hand. Sir George Beilby 

 appears to think that the commercial production of 

 alcohol on these or similar lines for local con- 

 sumption will soon be established in various parts 

 of the Empire, but that there is no immediate 

 prospect of alcohol counting for very much as an 

 imported fuel for use in this country. 



An interesting account was given of what has 

 been done in the winning and utilisation of peat, 

 but a fundamental difficulty was stated in the 

 following sentence : — 



When it is realised that the peat deposit in a good 

 bog 20 ft. deep is only the equivalent of a 12- or 14-in. 

 seam of coal, it will be evi'dent that even an output 

 of 1000 tons a day of air-dried peat involves the laving- 

 out and development of an enormous surface. 



Prof. Pierce Purcell has been acting as Peat 

 Investigation Officer of the Fuel Research Board, 

 and 100 tons of air-dried Irish peat have been 

 tried for boiler-firing and carbonisation, with 

 quite encouraging results. But it will be under- 

 stood that although the lecturer passed in review 

 various fuels which had interest and value, he 

 did not allow it to be forgotten that "coal is likely 

 to remain the chief source of fuel, not only foV 

 Great Britain, but for the world at large, and that 

 the problems of its winning, preparation, and use 

 NO. 2705, VOL. 108] 



still occupy the foreground in all serious con- 

 sideration of the subject. " He declared that " the 

 greatest of the fuel problems of the future was 

 to decide what proportion of the total coal con- 

 sumed it will pay to subject to a preliminary 

 operation of carbonisation or gasification, with 

 the object of sorting out the potential thermal 

 units of the coal into groups of higher availability 

 or greater convenience as fuels, e.g. gas, motor 

 spirit, fuel-oils, and coke." He pointed out once 

 more that " though the operations of carbonisa- 

 tion and gasification involve the expenditure of 

 some heat, the loss may be more than compen- 

 sated for bv the increased value of the new 

 fuels." 



Sir George Beilby has been interested for many 

 years in low-temperature carbonisation and its 

 possibilities — in the production of a solid, smoke- 

 less fuel for domestic purposes by the carbonisa- 

 tion of selected coals at 550° to 600° C. 

 The matter is being taken in hand by the Fuel 

 Research Board at its experimental station, and 

 data have been acquired as to the yields and 

 quality of the gas, oils, and coke produced 

 under definite conditions; but, as the lecturer 

 clearly indicated, the problem has two distinct 

 sides, the technical and the economic, and it is 

 very difficult to determine with any certainty the 

 resultant of the commercial forces at work, which 

 change their value in such a disconcerting way. 

 Hence this cautiously worded summary of the 

 position : — " My own belief is that low-tempera- 

 ture carbonisation can only be established on a 

 sound commercial basis with low operating costs 

 and a very moderate margin of profit." It is, 

 however, to be hoped that the technical results 

 obtained by the Fuel Research Board in its experi- 

 ments, which should have a permanent value, and 

 can be connected up with other factors in con- 

 sidering the commercial position of any such pro- 

 cess, will be published as soon as they are avail- 

 able. Information on this subject from an un- 

 biassed and competent authority is wanted, and 

 may serve to correct the extremes of laudation and 

 condemnation to which we have become accus- 

 tomed. 



Considering how large are the quantities of coal 

 used for steam-raising. Sir George Beilby rightly 

 directed attention to the possibility of a large 

 saving in fuel without any considerable capital 

 expenditure which might be effected if steam 

 plants were kept in order and their working pro- 

 perly supervised. Such supervision should 

 begin, of course, with the coal itself, so soon as 

 it becomes possible to exercise any reasonable 

 degree of choice in that matter. The work of Mr. 

 Brownlie, who has undertaken quite an extensive 

 survey of steam-raising plants in some of our prin- 

 cipal industries, has been very useful in this con- 

 nection. As the lecturer pointed out, even if a 

 moderate increase in efficiency of 10 per cent, were 

 effected in the steam-raising plants of the coun- 

 try, it would result in a minimum saving of 

 •j\ million tons per annum. Mr. Brownlie 's 



