Evening star., 1943-06-04

American motorists-at least those
along the East Coast-will drive
into filling station to get bun
die of sticks instead of gasoline.
Until recently, there was a tend
ency to sneer at the primitive"
makeshift processes with which
European cars have been run al
most from the beginning of the war.
Today, the car owner along the At
lantic Seaboard is willing to listen
to any kind of scheme that will
keep his automobile running.
For some time, the Bureau of
Standards here has been studying
gasoline substitutes used with vary
ing degrees of success in oil-starved
Europe. The survey is intended
specifically for the Bureau of Eco
nomic Warfare. which intends to use
the data in postwar assistance to
South America, China and other
countries which are without ade-
quate deposits of oil.
But it is not unlikely, Bureau Of
Standard officials concede, that
autos in some section of this coun-
try may some day be burning wood.
or coal or natural gas. They doubt
that such substitutes will ever come
into widespread use, however, un-
less Oil deposits in this country
reach such state of depletion that
other forms of motive power must
be found.
May Be $500 Expense.
The principal obstacles to con-
version of automobiles to the use
OF something besides gasoline dur
Ing the war are the shortage of
materials and the high cost of max
ing the alterations, according to
n. K. Cummings, chief of the auto
motive power plant section of the
Bureau of Standards. To convert
AN automobile TO some such fuel
as wood or charcoal might cost $500,
Mr.. Cummings said.
The gasoline shortage in this
country" he said, lis sufficiently
temporary SO that it wouldn't pav to
go very far towards conversion"
Generally, gasoline substitutes
tried in Europe fall into three cate
gories:
l. Mixtures of gasoline and alcohol
AS means of stretching petroleum
supplies.
2. Natural gas, carried in large
bags and fed into the engine.
burned to produce a gaseous fuel
for propelling the motor.
Tie use of alcohol to dilute gas
ollne probably would be as i'm
practical here as it was in European
countries. Alcohol has too MANY
industrial uses, including its i'm
portance in the synthetic rubber pro-
gram, to be considered an abundant
product in this country. Shortly
after the war began certain Euro
pean countries required civilian mo-
torists to dilute all their gasoline
with specific amount of alcohol.
But both gasoline and alcohol soon
became too precious for civilians to
Use in any quantity, and the idea
was abandoned.
Natural Gas More Feasible.
The use of natural gas energy for
automobile engines is more widely
accepted, especially for buses and
trucks with stabilized schedules and
routes. The gas is stored in large
bags usually placed on the roof of
the vehicle. Stations are set up
along the routes used by these car
rlers to replenish the supply when
1t runs low. Natural gas was first
used for motor vehicles during the
World War and is being used again
on the continent for non-military
vehicles, according to Mr.. Cummings.
The cost of converting automobiles
to the use of natural gas. Mr.. Cum
mings pointed out, would be con-
siderably less than the switch to
wool or coal. But he explained that
it would be necessary for motorists
to sling over their roofs bulky and
awkward bag that would some
how have to kept filled with ma
tural gas. This would also involve
the establishment of filling stations