Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-09-05
STRAW GAS MAY OPERATE
AUTOMOBILES IN THE FUTURE
Department of Agriculture Experiments
Bring Out Startling Successes.

The motor car Of the future may
be run. not by gasoline or electricity,
but by = combination Of wheat. oat
and rye straw.
Startling as the statement may
seem. omcials Of the Department Of
Agriculture experimental farm at Ar
lington declare they are producing q
combustible made from the de-
structive distillation Of straw, the
possibilities Of which cannot yet be
fully determined. :
Experiments have been made with
the new gas, and an automobile OPP
Grated with it as fuel. 1t has also
been used for Illuminating purposes
and cooking.
mercial value of the gas. David J.
Price, engineer in charge Of the new
Office of development work. subdi-
vision of the bureau Of chemistry.
has placed H e. Booth, jr.. In charge
Of series of production tests with
lington.
Work Goes on Slowly.
The work can be carried on but
available at present, but it is plan
ned to do much that will determine
the quantity and nature Of the gas
that may be obtained from wheat.
oas, barley. rye and rice straw. and
from cornstalks. corncobs, and other
vegetable matter usually burned as
waste. If the results of these tests
warrant further investigation the ex
periments will be extended to the
problem of plant equipment for pro-
ducing the gas on a scale sufhcient to
allow the farmer to supply light and
/ Il "a h eu q
tionary engines. and. possibly. for his
tractor. from a small individual out
At. If suitable unit can be con-
structed SO NAT the farmers initial
cost will be small 1t seems likely that
tho straw gas may have certain eco
country where the raw material from
which the gas 10 made Is now con-
sidered as waste and burned or left
| TO rot on the fields. In some sections
| Of the country the straw is used as
| fertilizer. but in the west and north
west there is an unlimited supply of
| the material available for conversion
| into light and fuel for the farm home.
| While it has been possible to OPP
| crate an automobile with straw gas
and it is known that nifty pounds OF
! straw will produce about 800 cubic
feet of gas-an amount sufficient to
! drive a light roadster fifteen miles
! the problem OF reducing the gas to
| LIQUID form or condenstng IT sum-
| GENTLY to allow it to be carried con-
veniently Is an essential one that
must be solved before straw gas can
| be considered as . possible motor
| fuel. This will be another of the
tasks taken UP by the engineers in
| the development division.
| straw Gas Not New.
| Straw gas is not a new thing The
present process was developed by
George Harrison. Canadian engineer
at Moosejaw. in 1914. who later CO.
operated on the project with Prof.
MacLaurin Of the University of sas-
katchewan. Saskatoon. Canada The
university, in conjunction with the
United States Department of Agri-
culture. exhibited straw gas equip
ment at the exposition of chemical
| industries in New York city during
the fall of 1918. This equipment was
later purchased and improved by the
department. The Canadian invests
gators succeeded in operating an au-
tomobile with the product. However
the fuel supply was carried In a large
flexible bag on the top of the cara