Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-29

cohol produced from sugar, is used sue
ceSsfully
A far more likely substitute for gaso-
line is LIQUID fuel extracted from coal,
the Oil Board announces. 1t is indi-
Gated that coal will be the first source
to be drawn upon for supplementing the
regular petroleum supply. Bringing the
matter into practical affairs. the board
recommends that two coal reserves of
some 1000 acres of publicly owned coal
deposits In wyoming and Montana. with
estimated content of quarter OF bill
lion tons of subbituminous coal. be es-
tablished. from which 1t is stated that
some 10000 900 barrels of oil might be
produced The coal is near the sur
face and can be mined by steam shovels,
and some day, In war or other emer-
gency. the oil from such coal might be
of the greatest importance to the Ma
ton.
1t is stated that technical discoveries
insure that an Oil somewhat similar TO
petroleum can be extracted from Ameri-
can coal, producing an adequate supply
OF oil for centuries to come, on condi-
ton always. however. that the demand
and the price justify extraction. It is
estimated that present coal reserves will
yield 100000 barrels OF motor fuel
or nearly 10 times the total amount of
all the Oil that the United States has
consumed since 1t first started produc-
ton, In 1859 Incidentally. up to June
1926, something over 5000, 000. 900 bar
rels OF crude oil had been produced In
America, one-third Of all this great pro-
duction coming. significantly enough
within the last five years. All previous
records are now being broken In oil
production and consumption. The Oh
Board says OF the American situation
! The one assured and significant fact
in the production situation of today Is
the sharply accelerated rate Of drawing
upon the underground reserves"
Higher Yield Seem
II coal can be liquefied commercially
the board reports, then the yield Of oil
from this source will be much higher
than could be obtained from the oil
shale of the United States. The board
states that nearly all experts agree that
oil derived from coal will cost more than
present gasoline Gas will cost more
by the hod than by the gallon" 1t might
be said However. improvements IN en-
CINE efficiency may well counterbalance
this rate I'm price. and at any rate. the
experiments and new industrial proc
esscs afoot In Germany In the use o!
coal actually do seem TO answer that
oft-repeated question. what Is America
going TO do when the oil supply gives
out?" The answer Is. Use coal.
The Bergius process OF liquefying coal
by heating 1t In an atmosphere OF ny
drogcn has been operated on an expert
mental scale In Germany for several
years and LIS now being tried out on a
commercial scale This process pro-
duces from 80 to 1873 gallons of liquid
fuel from each ton OF coal. from which
about 30 gallons OF motor fuel are OBJ
tanned. or about one barrel to the ton.
This combination indicates excellent
"anti'knock" qualities, Another esti-
mate assumes that enough motor fuel
from coal 10 meet Americas present
needs could be obtained IL the annual
soft coal output were increased about
so per cent. Under the Bergius proc
ess all the other by-products OF the coal
besides the motor fuel would be made
available for industry.
Shaie OH Resource.
As a final potential substitute, there
| is shaIe oil. An estimate prepared for
the Conservation Board by the indefat-
igable statisticians puts the theoretical
| maximum recoverable from American
shale supplies at $4,000. 900. 900 barrels
with the barrel equal 10 ~ gallons.
Summarizing the possible use OF this
fuel the Bureau Of Mines reports IN
| part:
THE oil shaie deposits OF the United
States offer an assured supply OF oil
for many years, II and when the price
OF petroleum products reaches a level
where the extraction OF Oil from these
deposits LIS profitable.
There are many problems OF tech
meal nature relating TO the mining and
rstorting of oil shale and the refining
| OF oil shale that must be solved before
an oil shale industry could be estab-
| lished ON sound basis. Likewise
there are number OF complicated eco
nomic problems that must be taken into
consideration,
Many OF those who have given Sc
rious consideration 10 an oil shale in-
dustry Of the future are OF the opinion
that only operations on very large
scale. involving commenaurately large
capital outlay. could hope TO be sue
cessful
Doubtless The oil shale industry oil
the United States viii have slow
growth and oil from saaie will supple
ment rather than displace oil from
wells. II will doubtless be dim
cult 10 interest capital In an oil shale
industry until the peak Of production
from wells hiss been reached and the
curve shows a. definite decline or until
the demand exceeds the supply for a
period Of a few years"