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LIQUID FUEL RESOURCES
From a purely economic point of
new, the prospects of producing liquid
fuels in Australia from brown or black
coal, or from certain cultivated plants,
seem to have improxed only slightly,
if at all. during the past three years.
Figures cited by the Commonwealth
Standing Committee on Liquid Fuels,
in its latest report to the Minister for
Supply and Development, certainly!
convey this impression. Technically, it j
is contended, there have been no not-]
iable advances in this field of investi
! gation and production .since Sir David |
i?ivett exhaustively examined British!
: and German processes in 1936. Even j
|at that time. Imperial Chemical In
dustries had carried its work at Bill
ingham-on-Tees beyond the experi
mental stage; and the German tech
nicians had also evolved "a workable
industrial process."' Australia was for
tunate to have at her disposal all the
essential information relating to these
efforts to convert black and brown coal
into petrol and oil, for she thus avoided
costly experiments here. But the data
showed only too plainly that, practi
cable as the production of liquid fuels
from coal might be, it was hopelessly
uneconomic. Sir David Rivett's re
luctant conclusion on this point was
confirmed, a year later, by a committee
of experts. Whereas the price of petrol
imported Into Australia was found by
the committee to be "approximately sd.
a gallon," it was estimated, on the most
conservative basis, that petrol produced
from black coal by the hydrogenation
process would cost more than 13d. a
gallon; and, from brown coal, more
than 14d. a gallon. Petrol produced by
the method adopted in Germany, the
committee declared, would also cost at
least 13d. a gaUon. Since that report
was written, there have apparently
been no manufacturing developments
that would justify a radical change in
the estimates made; and. under present
conditions, it is clear, not only that the
establishment of the necessary plant
would involve huge capital expenditure
but that the petrol then produced
would cost about three times as much
as that which is now imported.
No one needs to be reminded that
more than strictly economic considera
tions are involved in this question.
Other countries without natural oil
supplies, have become increasingly in
terested in local production of oil from
the standpoint of national safety; and
such projects have been lifted out of
the realm of private initiative into that
of national policy. Even in 1936, Sir
David Rivett was constrained to refer
to the issue of national security in
volved in any proposal to establish a
hydrogenation plant in Uiis country. In
view of international developments
since then, the whole matter of Aus
tralia's liquid fuel supplies has neces
sarily been reviewed. At heavy cost,
but with disappointing results, the
Federal Government has encouraged a
more intensive search lor flow oil. Only
the most cautious view can now be
taken of the likelihood of finding flow
oil in Australia. The prospects of success
in that direction certainly do not justify
an attitude of complacence towards
the possible interruption of overseas
transport of oil. and the resultant
situation, in the event of war. The
Commonwealth clearly faces the merits
and demerits of storage, as against pro- j
duction, for possible war-time needs.
Mr. Casey has shown that the cost of
storing a year's supply of petrol would
probably be substantially less than the
cost of producing a similar quantity by
hydrogenation or other methods; and
storage at isolated points has the addi-i
tional advantage of being less vul
nerable than one extraction plant. On
the other hand, there is the value of a!
new industry, together with, the pos-l
sibility of other related industries being
established. There is also a manifest
need to find an outlet for surplus dried
fruits, grapes, and grain; and, in an
emergency, the means to convert these
products into power alcohol might well
prove of great national importance.
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