Future Of Coal

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31754, 10 August 1968, Page 12

Future Of Coal

Sir, —“Coal Fires” rightly questions his coal merchant as to quality of fuel. The Coal Advisory Service says that domestic coal should usually be over Hin cube: also, that sulphur may be absorbed by interaction with the grate bars, causing fusing. It should be possible to reduce the sulphur content of domestic coal supplied to Christchurch to less than ] per cent. But because of collective marketing, individual mines do not advertise much the special properties of each type. Because Auckland apparently rejects low-sulphur Waikato coal in favour of high-sulphur fuel oil, it is no reason why we should burn the higher-sul-phur coals. The Chief Chemical Inspector, Mr R. T. Douglas, in his paper, “Air Pollution and Industrial Progress,” stated that this country may have reached the “break even” point for the extraction of sulphur from coal. High-sulphur coals may one day be very valuable to us.—Yours, etc., PATRICK NEARY. August 9, 1968.

Sir,—My wife’s relations are all or nearly all, in the mining industry, and I feel sure that if Mr Neary would find positions for the miners, he would be doing something constructive. As far as I am concerned, I shall keep on burning coal.—Yours, etc., C. L. SUTTON. August 9, 1968.