§ Sir P. Hurdasked the Minister of Fuel and Power what are the results of the inquiries which he began to make nine months ago on the gasification of coal underground in Russia, the extraction of fire-damp from coalmines in the United States of America and the tests made in Scottish mines?
Major Lloyd GeorgeI regret that so far no information about the Russian work on underground gasification has been received. The U.S. authorities have kindly supplied my Ministry with some information about the proposals for the extraction of fire-damp from coalmines in the U.S.A. and this is being examined. As far as I am aware, no tests on underground gasification are in progress in Scotland but I am informed that for some years methane issuing at the surface in a coalfield area in Scotland has been used for the heating of glasshouses.