A New Use for Peat

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 47, 21 November 1907, Page 33

A New Use for Peat

There have been so many proposals to utilise peat, as a fuel, a motor power, and in various other ways, that any new idea in connection _with its. economic or commercial use is rather discounted by the failures- in the past. Most of the proposals never got beyond the experimental stage. Some of them never reached that far, and except as a fuel in those places where coal is dear and difficult to get, and peat close at hand and cheap, the vast deposits of peat havie lain practically useless. Lately it has been turned into paper, a coarse brown but rather brittle, paper, useful for packing purposes, and when treated with antiseptic fluids as a capital, under-carpet to preserve a better article on top. But in all these uses, the quantity used up,, except in the case of fuel, have been almost infinitesimal in comparison with the enormous areas under peat-bog in Ireland. A new use for the enormous peat^ bogs is now, ■however, on the tapis, (says the ' Freeman's Journal') and that promises not only to be easily carried out, but to be profitable, more especially if it can be carried on as the promoters of the new industry believe it can ; one that will mean profit to the owners of peat, bogs, and give mnich employment in the production of an article, which, now that, motors have come to stay, is daily increasing in consumption. The new products to be obtained from peat are alcohol—a coarse spirit fit for motoring purposes— sulphate of ammonia, one of the best of fertilizers ; and wood naphtha .or methyl spirit, which is the very article at present most required to denaturalize the pure alcohol when used duty free, and whioh at present is much more costly than the cheap alcohol itself. The present attempt -to use up peat for making fmotor-spirit has got beyond the experimental stage, as companies, are (being formed in Ireland, England, and Scotland to work the patents, which, if they carry out the promises" made, will mean a very profitable industry for the promoters. Experiments have been made by the great chemist, Sir "William Ramsey, with Irish peat, and has been proved that a good motor alcohol spirit of a high strength can be produced and sold at a huge profit for threepence per gallon. A dry ton of peat will produce thirty-six gallons of alcohol, besides a goodly proportion of the other by-products mentioned above the process being extremely simple. No very elaborate machinery will be required. Only sulphuric acid and carbonate of lime will require to be brought to the bogside, in addition to the machinery for distilling, and the peat itself will be fuel to the still . to be used. It is calculated the by-products, ammonia, gypsum, tar, and paraffin will much more than pay expenses of producing the alcohol " which motorists, now that petrol is becoming dearer and scarcer, are certain to -use in increasing quantities in the future, as, after all, motoring, now in its infancy, will, no doubt, develop largely as the cars are reduced in price, which is only a mattpr oJ time. : i 1