Evening star., 1949-02-23
Stars, Men and Atoms I
Wood Yeast Seen as Food
For World of Tomorrow
Product Rich in Proteins Developed
In Wisconsin u. Experiments
By Thomas r. Henry


Yeast made from wood may be an impor-
tant element in feeding the world of tomor-
row. with its increasing population and
diminishing resources.
Wood yeasts now have been developed
which are about as rich in proteins, the
nitrogen-containing elements of food neces-
sary for life as beef steak, Dr. harrington
Daniels of the University of Wisconsin says
in a report to the American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
1t Is known, he said. that thousands Of
tons of such a product were used for food
in Germany during the war. At the time it
was not entirely satisfactory, but better
methods Of synthesis since have been devel-
oped by American chemists.
From IS to 10 per cent of most woods"
he said now can be converted into sugar
by heating with dilute sulfuric acid under
special conditions developed at the United
States Forest Products laboratory in Wiscon-
SIN This sugar can be used for growing
yeast and producing alcohol which can be
used for liquid fuel
Cheap and Nutritious.
These yeasts are cheap and they possess
splendid nutrtive value. With intensive re.
search on improving the flavor this sourcs
of protein should be great help in solving
food shortage, particularly in the tropics
where large-scale production of meat is
difficult. Nitrogen compounds must be sup
piled to these growing yeasts in order to
produce proteins. Possibly this fixed nitrogen
can be supplied directly from the nitrogen
OF the air by new process in which the air
is heated to a high temperature.
In any event the wheat and meat of the
limited, rich farming lands cannot be used
indefinitely to feed the world. Trees and
quck-growing bushes and grass can be
grown on poorer soil and it now is perfectly
practical to eat wood products"
Radical Improvements on the basic German
methods of producing fuel oil and gasoline
are being achieved by Bureau of Mines
chemists.
The Germans throughout the war were
cut of from adequate liquid fuel supplies.
Yet they never seemed. until quite late in the
struggle, to be seriously short of aviation or
motor gasoline and some of it appeared to
be quite superior quality.
This was possible because of the develop.
ment OF two fundamental processes by Ger.
man chemists just before the war-the So
called Fischer-Tropsch and Bergius proc
esses. The former is the best known. One
Of its defects was that it was quite wasteful.
product known as synthesis gas, mixture
OF carbon monoxide and hydrogen. repre-
sented about so per cent of the cost of the
liquid fuel product.
Savings Reported.
The efforts of the chemists at the Bureau
Of Mines synthetic fuels laboratory at Bruce
ton, Pa have been mainly directed toward
more efficient conversion of this synthetic
gas to liquid form. Already great savings
have been accomplished. according to the
report of DR.. H. H. Storch, chief of the
laboratory.
Both German processes required extremely
high rressures difficult and costly to main
tain. The major objective of the American
research, DR.. Storch says is to develop
method for rapid conversion of the coal
at moderate pressures and high tempera-
lures. The ultimate objective of the work
is to shift part of the growing burden Of
oil and gasoline demand to the country's
immense coal reserves. These are almost
inexhaustible. 1t is calculated that they will
supply the Nations fuel and power demands
for at least a thousand years. Petroleum
resources, on the other hand, are being
rapidly exhausted.