OIL AND COAL

Hokitika Guardian, 7 January 1932, Page 7

OIL AND COAL

COMING HARMONY. PLEA FOR CO-ORDINATION. Sir John Gutman's address at the British Association eu the British Fuel Problem” was of special interest to the public because it deait with a problem ot great importance. Sir John Cadman, who is chairman ot the AngloPersian Oil Company, said “Stress is too often laid upon the competition that exists between coal and oil as sources of energy. In this country, for instance, annual production oi coal exceeds 1240,000,000 tons and annual importation oi oil amounts to 7,000,000 or 8,000,000 tons. Home consumption of the two fuels is respectively 170,000,000, and, say, G,500,001) to 7,000,000 tons. Motor spirit and Diesel oil act as stimulants to the consumption of coal. Oils That are Vital to Coal. “\Ye import annually some 3,000,10.) tons of the former product. Kerosene, of which consumption amounts to 700,000 tons, is employed largely for domestic lighting and heating in regions where no other illuminant is available. It serves also as the motive power of farm tractors and of fishing boats. “As to lubricants, of which we consume over 400,000 tons a year, it can truly be said that they are vital to the consumption of coal; without lubricating oils and greases modren industry own Id be brought immediately to a standstill, * “The figure 0fT5,500,000 to 7,000,000, tons which I have given as 0UI ’ * lome consumption of pptro|em includes 1,000,000 tons of fuel oil used as ships’ bunkers and a further 1,000,000 tons consumed within the country tor industrial and domestic purposes.

“The average cost of producing one ton of flowing crude, oil and bringing it to the surface of the earth may lie estimated at one-quarter of the expense entailed in mining and raising a ton ol coal. That ratio will probably subsist for a number of years. Grading, Cleansing, Refining. “At the well head and the pit head, coal and oil are, virtually, the raw materials of fuel. Coal, it is true, needs little preparation for the market; but. as Sir David Milne Watson has said, the tendency among consumers is to require more careful grading and cleansing. Oil. on the other hand, needs a complete range of tieatment before it is available as a fuel. “Moreover, by reason ol the location of oil deposits in areas which are often distant from centres of consumption, the element of transport—and its cost —often bulks somewhat largely in the price paid by the consumer. Ultimately, therefore, petroleum products are more costly, for >equal.-weights,-.than * coal; and since their value in terms of heat is greater, a higher price has economic j"stification. ''On lann, and particularly in Great Britain, the u.-.o of oil for power, and heating purposes is severely limited. In this country coal is cheap and plentiful, and its energy is available either in the form of the solid fuel or ip that of gas and electricity. Oil, therefore, has made Jittle headway. "The annual internal use in Great Britain of 1,000,000 tons of fuel oil is insignificant in comparison with a consumption of coal amounting to 170,000,000 tons. Moreover, that oil is chiefly used for special purposes to which coal is unsuited; and it is improbable that its consumption tvi! greatly expand. Will be Specially Marketed. “A time will come—and it m’y not ho very distant —when coal and oil wil. he marketed upon a basis of uti lisa hie thermal units, with direct reference to the geographical location of deposits in relation to centres of consumption. They will be consumed in manners which will extract the maximum thermal efficiency from each. At a given place and at a. given time, the use of coal will 1)0 more economical than that of oil. Conversely, circumstances elsewhere, or at other times, will operate in favour of the liquid fuel. “For myself, I look forward in the future to an ever-increasing measure of harmony and co-ordinated action in respect to the consumption of coal and oil; and / shall acclaim with wholehearted sincerity any developments which enable the world to extract full measure of value, in terms of efficiency or of service, from the great reserves of potential energy with which Nature has endowed us.”