POWER ALCOHOL

Northern Advocate, 18 February 1926, Page 7

POWER ALCOHOL

j A NEW INDUSTRY. i IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS. MELBOURNE, February 12. Eefcre?iee was made by the Minister for Trade and Customs (Mr Pratten) to paragraphs that had appeared in the Press recently with regard to the manufacture of power alcohol from sugar cane. Mr Pratten said that the necessity for the Commonwealth being much more self contained and supplying its own petrol and other material for pnotor power was of paramount importance, especially from the standpoint of defence, as motor transport and transit would, in the coming years, be essential to Australia. The negative results up to now with regard to the hoped for discovery of mineral oil had been a source of much disappointment, and consequently attention in Australia had recently been devoted to the production qf power spirit from the vegetable world.

The'British Government, he said, was fully seized with the importance of further sources of supply within the Empire, and the International Power Alcohol Co., a purely British company, with a very large capital, has been assisting in this direction. Its representative (Mr Broad) came to Australia last year and investigated the possibilities of power alcohol production on a large scale in Australia. As a result of his visit, it was decided to erect a power alcohol distillery in the Maekay district, of Queensland, and a new company was formed for this purpose with Australian and British capital, under an Australian directorate. As. the molasses in the district were not sufficient to supply raw material to this distillery for the whole year, an alternative source of raw material was- found in shape of cassava, a starch-bearing root plant.

Thb Queensland Government, said Mr Pratten, had advanced money to the sugar mills for the erection of a distillery, and the machinery was on the way to Australia. It was expected that the distillery would start towards the end of the* year. Cassava plants had been obtained from Java, by the Queensland Government expert, and they had been planted about two months ago, and were thriving well, some hundreds of acres having been laid down.

Mr Broad is again in Australia,. continued Mr Pratten, and has arranged to meet the representatives of the sugar industry in the far north, next month, when it is hoped and expected that arrangements frill be made, in co-opera-tion with the growers and all other interests concerned, to erect one, if not fwo, more distilleries to cope with the output of molasses in the district. This hoped for and quick development has exceeded expectations, and will turn what is now a waste product of molasses into power alcohol to the benefit of . the sugar industry and to Australia as a whole.

Every opportunity for further experiments, said Mr Pratten, would be afforded by the erection of these diatil--leries. Economic assistance i from the Government was not sought for in connection with this further scheme. This development in Queensland would certainly result in the further manufacture of some millions of gallons of power spirit. Possibly, when the industry in Queensland was commenced, some difficulty might be felt with regard to distribution; The .Ministry, however, was determined that there should be fair competition, and that from the small beginnings of the Power Alcohol Bill, which ho had introduced during the last Parliament, and wMeh' would be passed this session, a very important new industry in Australia would bo developed.