Evening star., 1922-05-28
POWER FOR THE FUTURE
BIG PROBLEM OF TO-DAY
Something, More Than Mere sConserya.
ton. Held to Be Necessaryto Prevent
Exhaustion of Resources.

enal may Dc substituted for mans
labor so far as present knowledge
| goes, there is no sufficient supply OF
energy available which may be sub
| stituted. The potential water power
OF the United States, including even
\ that which might be developed at
costs now regarded as high, would
| only DO the work now beingvdone by
steam and water combined and would
permit of no further growth 1t
would require our entire corn-grow-
| ing area to produce enough alcohol TO
| substitute for the gasoline now de-
| manded. and the land is worth more
to use for growing corn. Solar. inter-
| molecular and other forms of energy.
while known and measurable. are not
] practically available.
( Our fuel supply. while large. is lin
ited, and common prudence dictates
| that every effort be made to prevent
waste in it's production and utiliza-
tfon. Here rs a borderland where en-
gineering. economics and politics are
/ contep6:nR.
| Public Policy RunS
Counter to Eee.emics.
DR.. Balm emphasizes that there are
two separate problems involved ana
that in formulating public policy
| these must be kept in mind. In the
oil and gas fields competition is
| synonymous with water. and yet our
| whole public policy has been to force
/ competition. The country has been
facing a great coal strike which
| might we'll lead to profound changes
| in industry. and yet the most funda-
many mines in the bituminous fields
and have been for years. None the
| less. the national government is to-
| day freely granting leases on its coal
/ lands which will inevitably result in
still more mines to vex troubled
| industry. Thus public policy runs
| counter to eco1onlics and engineer
| ing.
Conservation by law does not
| always work out well: sometimes u
! reserves No. ! and No. were cfe-
ated in California to furnish a future
| fuel supply for the Navy. The plan
was to hold the oil in the ground as
| the cheapest form Of storage. Cn-
| fortunately the land did not all be
| long to the government. Careful
studies have demonstrated that the
government has already lost upwards
/ of $4,000 900 worth of oil through
failure TO drill its land properly. Re
on private lands will result in a
diminution of production on the naval
reserves. Arraneements have now
\ been made to take out the govern
| ment oil and store it for the Navy.
| Forcing More Money
| On Wealthy Indians.
| In the Usage nation oil lands by
/ structure and ownership are favor
/ able for indefinite storage in the
ground. But existing law requires
| the Secretary of the Interior TO open
! it up for development by sale OF
! leases every three months. although
i the Indians drawing the royalty are
per capita the wealthiest people In
| the world.
Millions of cubic feet of the most
Iqtecious and limited gas helium are
| being turned into the air every day
\ without benefit 10 any one. Wise con
| servation here would be of undenn-
able national benefit
| Waste in industry must be reduced.
But conservation is not helped BY
| legislating. or failing to legisiste.
| when the thought in mind is distri-
button of the profits of industry; that
| is n separate problem.
What is to be the fuel of the fu-
| ture? 1t will not be electricity. the
government officials believe, because
/ it would be too expensive in the form
of heat.
| in quantity has look-in are the OIL
| shales of the west. they say. Here
1 a
the cost of production is prohib:tive
uetil the price of gasoline goes much
higher There. these officials Of the
I bureau of mines say. is where we
! will get our oils OF the future.
Forecast the Coming
| OF n Gas Age.
! We are facing gas age rather
than an electrical age. they forecast.
and that the coming fuel is through
Justification of coal. 1t is even sug-
(; gested that it is "a crime to burn
coal in its raw state, as far as our
ultimate resources are concerned; but
| it is now an economic necessity, be-
cause it doesn't pay yet to refine the
coal for general industrial use. When
4 the price of coal goes soaring il Will
have to be processed tgasified), so
that in factories and homes We Will
burn cheap, low heat value gas. IL
is even stated that there are many
| "orazt city laws" that demand too
rich a gas Legislation will look
| toward putting lower-grade gas
I through the mains and doing away
| with furnaces and stoves.
The coming fuel will be smokeless.
| these students of the situation point
out, because all the tars and vapors
| that make the smoke are going to be
| converted into by-products.
So sane, practical, economically
| efficient conservation is coming be
| before Congress soon, with view TO
getting the best national policy IN
| the light of world war lessons and
Developments.