LIQUID MOTOR FUEL FROM MUD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 28 November 1938, Page 3

LIQUID MOTOR FUEL FROM MUD

RUSSIANS SUCCESSFUL Intensive research in Russia has re-j| suited in the production of liquid motor || • fuel from organic mud, arousing world j | i wide interest. The Soviet Government 1| I is rapidly developing the industry. !| “The Times” points out that the right § 1 kind of mud abounds in central and | [northern Russia, thousands of miles § 1 from the chief sources of mineral oil. i ‘*The new industry, therefore, is expect- j 1 ' ed to save Russia vast expenditure on | • railway transport. ' It is reported that 20.U0U.U00 tons of;| ' >uitable dry organic mud are available. | ' and that reserves in i : ver beds. bogs. g i and lakes r.re inexhaustible. P’irst experiments on an “industrial I scale" were begun at the Red insky | L works in 1936, and the results achieved | 'veer reputed *o be highly satisfactory. | FUEL PROBLEM 1 The fuel problem caused the Soviet § : , serious anxiety in 1938. because the § 1 i economic devolopment of l e past de- ? ‘ j cade had created additional demands. | i which the present machinery of exploi- I i! tation and distribution is unable to p I i satisfy. ’ As an example, the rapid all-round || • machinisation of agriculture resulted inj| ,400.000 tractors and vast quantities of § i agricultural machinery being supplied | i all over the country. Production of oil [| • fuel had not kept pace with the consum- | ers’ demands, and large regions fre-* I • quently were working on short rations, j | • which became critical at sowing and 11 , harvesting periods. i A grandiose scheme recently launch-1| ed for the extraction of lubricants from -i . locusts was a failure, so an aerial ex- |.I pedition was sent to exterminate the 11 ’ locusts. , I A second plan, which is still operat- | J | ing. provides for the use of good gas | ■ generators. I A special correspondent of “The g ( ! Times’ says that the second five-year | ' | plan for mechanisation of farming was I unsuccessful, agricultural production | J | falling below pre-Revolution figures, de- 1 ’ spite the 10.00C.000 increase : n popula- 1 i tion. ’I He adds that Russia’s 1938 wheat!! ; crop was poor, because of the weather i§ ‘ and the reduction of cfliciency by; | I I purges in rural power tractor stations. ||