§ 10. Mr. Elwyn Jonesasked the Minister of Fuel and Power what research is being carried out in this country on production of synthetic oil from coal; and what are His Majesty's Government's plans for the development of such production, in view of the availability of coal and the lack of indigenous oil supplies.
§ Mr. GaitskellExperiments have been carried out at the Fuel Research Station of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research over several years and are being continued. The staff of that station has also investigated processes operated on a considerable scale in Germany and keeps in close touch with work in the U.S.A. As regards the second part of the Question, the possibilities of producing oil from coal are under constant review. While technical developments 69W hold some promise that the very high costs will be reduced, perhaps through the production of valuable chemical byproducts, they do not yet justify plans for operation on a commercial scale in this country.