§ 59. Mr. WHITELEYasked the Secretary for Mines the date on which experiments first began in this country on the Bergius process and at how many places; and what amount of money the Government have spent on these experiments?
§ The SECRETARY for MINES (Commodore Douglas King)Experiments on a laboratory scale were carried out at the Fuel Research Station, Greenwich, from 1923 to 1926, and since that year on a small technical scale. The cost to date is approximately £10,000. Special experiments were carried out for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research by Dr. Bergius in Germany from February, 1926 to April, 1927. The cost of these experiments was £15,533. Experiments on a small scale have also been carried out at Birmingham University. I understand that the subject is being studied exhaustively by at least one commercial undertaking.