§ 3.5 p.m.
§ THE DUKE OF MONTROSE rose to call attention to the fact that while restrictions are properly being made in respect of the limited amount of petrol available for transport purposes, the Government do not appear to be taking adequate steps to develop alternative fuels or means of propulsion; and to move for Papers.
§ The noble Duke said: My Lords, I hope in moving the Motion which stands in my name that you will acquit me of any intention to cause worry to those who hold responsible positions in these anxious days, but there are some matters concerning the defence of the country and the successful prosecution of the war that deserve serious consideration. One of those matters is the question of transport—transport both for the civil population of this country and for those business interests which are doing so much to back up the efforts of the fighting forces. The question of transport raises the question of petrol, which is essential for a large proportion of our transport, and the question of petrol raises the further question whether we are utilising to the fullest extent alternative fuels which are indigenous to this country. It stands to reason that the more alternative fuels which are indigenous to this country can be used the more petrol there will be available to allocate to the fighting forces. We all know that without petrol the Air Force of this country, the mechanised Army of this country, and to some degree the Royal Navy, would be worth very little more than steel junk. Therefore it is essential that we should, as a war measure, have as much petrol as possible to allocate to the Defence Forces.
§ The claims on transport and the use of petrol-driven vehicles are increasing. Owing to the congestion on the railways, due to Government transport and defence measures, road haulage is growing. We want haulage on the roads for all kinds 1188 of heavy traffic, for the carriage of livestock, the carriage of fertilisers, the carriage of feeding stuffs, bricks, cement, wood, and all that kind of merchandise. We also require petrol not merely for transport but for agricultural production. Much of our agriculture to-day is wholly dependent on mechanised means of cultivation. Tractors want petrol. Just as the claims and demands on petrol grow and grow so does the supply become less and less. We have just had our first restriction of the petrol allowance—a 25 per cent. restriction. If we are in for a three-year war is there any noble Lord who will say there will not be a still further restriction? It surely stands to reason that until we have the undisputed mastery of the air and the undisputed command of the sea, and until all possibility of attacking and sinking our oil tankers is over and past, nobody can say that the restriction on petrol will not grow more and more.
§ Seeing the possibility of further restriction of the petrol supplies, I want to ask what we are doing to provide the supply of an alternative fuel and an alternative method of propulsion which is indigenous to this country. My information may be very small, but my impression is that we are doing very little indeed, either through the Government or through private enterprise, to make good these restrictions on petrol. Yet there is no reason at all why we should be doing nothing. Fortunately for us, a number of countries on the Continent have demonstrated during the last few years that producer gas propulsion applied to motor vehicles for the purpose of converting them from petrol to gas can be made perfectly efficient. Germany has done an immense amount of work with producer gas motor vehicles. I have seen figures showing that to-day she has nearly 10,000 gas motor vehicles working day and night on her roads. France has 7,000 gas producer vehicles, Italy has 3,000, and I know that in Australia they have just fitted 600 agricultural tractors. Therefore there is ample evidence that producer gas propulsion is no longer an experiment; it is a fact of proven possibility. Still more fortunately for us, it has been demonstrated on the Continent that producer gas applied to motor vehicles works best with heavy vehicles like buses, lorries and such like engaged in long-distance haulage.
1189§ I want to emphasize that it is not an experiment. A little while ago I happened to be a pioneer in introducing the Continental system of gas motor propulsion, because I visualised the day when we might be short of petrol in the event of war. Although my humble effort was very limited by small means and short time, yet after eighteen months there are now to-day 200 gas producer motors of all kinds running on the roads in Great Britain. What is stranger is that these 200 vehicles are not operated by or owned by private individuals, but by some of the leading and largest industrial firms in the country. I know one bus company in the Highlands of Scotland which has been operating a twenty-two-seater bus for over a year. That bus has run over 50,000 miles in daily service on the Highland roads. So great has been it's success and so pleased are the directors with its performance that they have now ordered a thirty-two-seater bus. I saw that bus run its tests about a fortnight ago, and on a part of the road it was able to attain a speed of forty-two miles an hour. Then I have seen a large motor lorry of twenty-two tons weight on the road, which has run several thousands of miles in Lori-don. I have seen lorries of three, four and five tons weight working on the road, all of which have done several thousands of miles. I mention these figures simply to show your Lordships that gas producer propulsion for the conversion of petrol lorries is not an experiment but a fact.
§ My little office, since this 25 per cent. reduction in petrol, has been simply besieged by people wanting to know what a gas producer is, where you can get a gas producer, what can be done with it and so on. If I were in a position to do so I should place an order for 1,000 gas producer vehicles to-morrow, and not for individuals, but for some of the largest manufacturing firms in the country, working for the Government and for the railways. Yet what can I do? Nothing, for the simple reason that the conversion of petrol lorries to gas propulsion is not considered to be war work. It is not munition work, and therefore, because it is not war work and not munition work, I cannot get material. I cannot even retain the key staff. Therefore nothing is done, and I have to say nothing is done. It is a ridiculous position. We have any amount of fuel in this country suitable for this gas propulsion. I have 1190 tried anthracite coal, which is very suitable. Then there is smokeless coal, which is being made in this country; that is suitable. I have tried wood charcoal, charcoal made from hard woods—oak, beech and birch; that is suitable. I have tried conifer charcoal made from Scots pine; that is suitable. I have tried peat charcoal made of peat from the bogs of Ireland; that is perfectly suitable. Therefore our supply of alternative fuel for gas propulsion is unlimited and unrestricted, and the more we use solid fuel the more petrol there is to allocate to the fighting forces.
§ Take smokeless coal: there is near Nottingham a group of collieries that are about to complete our smokeless coal factory; it should be completed at the end of this month. They expect to be able to make 150,000 tons of smokeless coal in a year. I dare say a great proportion of that smokeless coal will be utilised for domestic purposes. But suppose there were an emergency, suppose we were in a difficulty, and suppose we wanted oil: if that 150,000 tons of smokeless coal were utilised for gas propulsion in motor lorries, it would give the power equivalent to that of 4,000,000 gallons of petrol. Would it not be useful to be able to hand over 4,000,000 gallons of petrol to the Air Force and the fighting forces and be able to carry on your transport just the same without any restriction on the public use? Surely it would be. And not only with that smokeless coal but also with all the other fuels I have named you could release petrol for the fighting forces. Germany is doing it, France is doing it, why do we not do it? Simply because the Government, obviously, do not make it munition work, and so forth. Some noble Lords in this House have been public-spirited enough to offer their services to various Ministries. My humble services are very small, but in order to get the thing done, in order to get the scheme begun, in order to be able to give more petrol to the fighting forces, I am ready to place my humble services at the disposal of the Ministry of Supply. I beg to move the Motion which stands in my name.
§ 3.19 p.m.
LORD TEYNHAMMy Lords, I should like to take this opportunity, as President of the Transport Producer Gas Association, of giving my support to His Majesty's Government for the research 1191 work which they have already carried out on the various alternative fuels for transport purposes. In early days I think there was a certain lack of collaboration between the fuel research station at Greenwich and the industry generally, but I can assure your Lordships that the position is now entirely changed and His Majesty's Government have made arrangements to pool all their knowledge and resources with industry and the Coal Utilisation Research Association, which is carrying out all the research work. I understand that the research is being directed to the production of a gas producer plant which can be fitted to lorries and heavy vehicle traffic, and also to the design of an engine to make the best use of producer gas, instead of just adapting a petrol engine. I think that the key to the whole problem is close co-operation between the producer research organisation and the actual motor manufacturers.
I would like to make clear to your Lordships that, in spite of what has been said by the noble Duke, one of the main difficulties to contend with is the fuel supply, as at the present time only a limited supply of suitable fuel is available for the producer gas plants which are at present operating on a number of vehicles. I understand it is the intention of the research organisation to study the production of a producer which will be able to use a far wider range of fuels, including steam coal and low-temperature coke, and thus widen the basis of the fuel supply. I think your Lordships can rest assured that every effort is now being made by the fuel research station of His Majesty's Government at Greenwich, in co-operation with the Coal Utilisation Research Association, to produce at the earliest possible moment a really suitable design of gas producer which will help to safeguard our petrol supply in the present emergency.
§ 3.22 p.m.
§ EARL FORTESCUEMy Lords, in the last few days we have grown familiar with several alternative forms of transport. Our streets are populated with bicycles and pedestrians, and I am glad to hear that the horse is once more coming back into its own. But what my noble friend has in mind, as he has told us, is the development of certain devices to enable existing vehicles, which ordinarily run on petrol, to continue to operate. 1192 This is a very technical field, one in which I cannot possibly speak with the expert knowledge of the noble Duke and I hope that the House will, therefore, bear with me. Somewhat different issues arise in connection with each of the different possible alternative fuels, and I will therefore say a word about each in turn.
First of all about compressed gas. An alternative system for using town gas for vehicles is to carry it under high pressure in cylinders. This, of course, gives a much bigger radius of action than gas bags. The Government have been taking a considerable interest in this matter for some time, and in particular they have been closely associated with tests on compressed gas vehicles under operating conditions. I understand that the results show that the use of compressed gas in cylinders is a practical and efficient means for operating transport vehicles. The difficulty as regards the development of compressed gas is that the capital equipment required is not inconsiderable. The House will well understand that the large cylinders of special steel which are required are unfortunately in great demand for other essential purposes at the present time. In addition to the supply of cylinders elaborate gas compressing plant would be necessary at a large number of centres before compressed gas transport could be developed on any scale. The position, therefore, is that, while the Government are most anxious that everything possible should be done in this field—as is shown by their association with the experiments which I have mentioned—the relative importance of different demands on the available manufacturing facilities must be considered.
The second matter is creosote. Large quantities of creosote are produced annually by the carbonisation of coal at gas works, coke ovens, and low-temperature plants. A good deal of this material is used as a fuel oil, and fortunately considerable quantities are available. Then I want to say a few words about gas bags, which a good many of your Lordships may remember were bags containing ordinary town gas, which billowed on the top of vehicles in the last war. These gas bags are probably the simplest means for converting vehicles from petrol, but unfortunately the amount of gas which can be contained in a bag of this kind is relatively small. 1193 However, as a means of propulsion for the vehicles operating over a restricted radius, gas bags may prove to be of some value. Elaborate technical research does not appear to be necessary, and it is understood that the matter has already been taken up commercially. For their part the Government are making it clear that coal gas used for transport purposes will not be subject to rationing.
As regards the producer gas which the noble Duke mentioned, I may say that an alternative field much in the public eye at the present time is the use of this so-called producer gas. As has already been explained this means in fact carrying a generator with a fire inside, the gas from which, sometimes called suction gas, is sucked into the engine and then ignited like petrol gas. These producers use solid fuel, that is to say, anthracite coal, charcoal or certain kinds of coke. The noble Duke has been interested especially in vehicles built for the use of producer gas. Although many efforts have been made in peace time to develop this commercially, development has been slow. This may be taken, I think, as indicating that the technical and other problems involved are not free from difficulty, Even in France, often held up as an example in this matter in this country, there are only a few thousand vehicles running on producers, notwithstanding the considerable official encouragement, and the availability in large quantities of that excellent producer fuel, charcoal. The aspect of this problem which would give more immediate relief would be the conversion of petrol using vehicles to the use of producer gas, but the technical difficulties in this respect are probably greater than those referred to already, while the use of coal, coke or low-temperature semi-coke, instead of charcoal, brings new difficulties.
The Government have been endeavouring for some time to find a solution to these problems, and those engaged on the work hope that it will be sufficiently far advanced to enable the Government to make a statement within a relatively short time. The noble Lord need not fear that the Government are not fully alive to the necessity for adopting every device in war time which will reduce the demand for an imported article by the use of a home produced article or As derivates. Circumstances may well dictate that such methods should be adopted in wartime 1194 although, in peace time, they may not be economical, and it is from this angle that the use of coal to reduce the importation of petroleum is being attacked, and will be prosecuted with vigour.
THE DUKE OF MONTROSEMy Lords, I am very much obliged to the noble Earl for the very informative reply he has made, and I am much encouraged in understanding that the various Ministries of the Government do not look upon this gas producer propulsion system as purely experimental. The only thing is that if anything is going to be done it should not be left too long. It takes time to organise the manufacture and production of gas producers, and it takes time to organise and collect the various fuels and distribute them throughout the country. If we are going to do anything it should be begun now. I do not think I need pursue the matter, in view of the information that has been given, and therefore I beg leave to withdraw my Motion.
Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.