THE PRODUCTION 01 kUk.L OILS the fuel question of this country would not be complete did it not embrace a review of the possi bilities of producing petroleums within its own borders. The conditions which now govern the supply of fuel in the United Kingdom, and the increasing use of oil for power purposes. bring coal and oil into vital jux taposition. The prices of these two fuels have, indeed, draw? so close together, that there is only one factor which stands out in favour of coal, and that is a geo graphical one. The fact that the sources of our oil supplies are thousands of miles distant, from which we may be, by some unforeseen occurrence, cut off, and that we have at our doors large quantities of solid fuel, deters many fuel users from resorting to the former, though far more efficient and economical in character. it is here that the two aspects of the subject join issue. The first clement in the argument is that both coal and oil possess the same ultimate composition, as will be seen from the following figures— It will be noticed that coal contains items which depreciate its value as a heat raising mineral, and that these arc absent from oil. It is apparent, therefore, that the liquid form of fuel is the more efficient and, therefore, the more economical. The present industrial conditions demand those auxiliaries which provide the greatest efficiency, the indicator thus points to fuel in its liquid form. Now this country does not possess natural oil resources, but it does, undoubtedly, possess vast quantities of mineral substances from which oil can be distilled. The most extensive field in this direction is that of coal. The valuable products which it is capable of yielding are now being entirely wasted by the method of burning employed.
It has long been recognized in the scientific world that coal in its natural state is a costly and very inefficient power producer, and combined with its recent high price, occupied a most unsatisfactory position compared with oil It is, therefore, impossible to consider the fuel question of this country without traversing the possibilities of oil production from this and other sources.
Approximately therefore we require over 1,000,000,000 gallons or, roughly, 3,500,000 tons of different oils annually, a quantity which will certainly increase largely every year.
It is contended in some quarters that we should make a considerable contribution to these requirements by treating coal and other carbonaceous substances, of which we possess extensive deposits in the United Kingdom, by the low temperature distillation process, by which heavy and light oils could be extracted in fairly large quantities. The contention is undoubtedly
a rational one, and would go a long way towards solving the fuel problem of the country. Important progress has been made in perfecting the process of low tem perature distillation, and it is believed that the latest type of retort now in use is one which will make commercial success assured.
It is obvious that the coal mines of this country must be worked and coal produced ; it is also now clearly recognized that the mineral contains large quantities of valuable products, among these oil, which must be conserved. The present methods of burning coal must be revolutionized, in other words, coal must be made to yield a far higher ratio of efficiency than it has done hitherto. By present methods of use for power and heat production, not only is its efficiency largely destroyed but the valuable by-products arc uselessly dissipated.
During the critical times of the Great War, when oil supplies were of such extreme urgency, a petroleum research department was formed for the purpose of ascertaining the extent and character of the mineral deposits of this country from which oil could be obtained by distillation. Writing on this subject in the Petroleum Year Book, Mr. E. H. Cunningham Craig states that " Research quickly proved that the most hopeful and the most rapidly realizable method of obtaining oil lies in the retorting of torbanites, canners and colliery waste." The geological staff of the department visited prac tically every colliery in the country, and it was found that the quantity of valuable material at present neglected, whether mined and treated as waste or left in the mines, is enormous. In addition much valuable information was obtained about unworked or abandoned areas, where valuable retortable material exists. In some cases it was necessary to descend the mines, but in most cases a study of the belts and waste heaps, and the cross-examination of managers, foremen and miners was sufficient. Conservative estimates of available supplies were collected from each district, and material selected for detailed examination. The detailed work consisted of microscopic examination, which resulted in the discovery of many important points, and enabled a classification of all retortable materials to be made. Then came chemical analyses, and finally large-scale retorting tests were made of several tons of each deposit selected, to ascertain what conditions of tempera ture, etc., would give the best results in each case. The results were tabulated and a complete record kept.