Science News July
OIL SHORTAGE MAY HIT U.S. DURING NEXT TWENTY YEARS
Unless new methods of obtaining and processing petroleum are developed, America may begin to feel the cramping hand of an oncoming oil shortage in from 10 to 20 years. This is the verdict of Dr. Arno C. Fieldner, chief of the technologic division of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
Dr. Fieldner, speaking as president of the American Society for Testing Materials, outlined the present resources of the nation's fuels in his address entitled, "Fuels of Today and Tomorrow."
Of coal America has plenty, said Dr. Fieldner. Enough to last hundreds and perhaps a thousand or more years. But natural gas and oil obtained by present methods may be exhausted in less than a century, he warned.
Here is the significant forecast of Dr. Fieldner on America's future fuels:
Coal will continue to be the chief fuel for the generation of public utility and major industrial power. While improved burning of coal might tend to decrease consumption and the further development of water power may be expected to increase, Dr. Fieldner sees an increasing demand for total energy needed by the country so that coal's relative position should be favorable. Moreover, after 10 or 15 years, oil resources will become more difficult to exploit, so that the trend will favor the increased consumption of coal.
"Tomorrow's power and central-heating plants will burn any kind of coal completely and efficiently," said Dr. Fieldner. "There will be no smoke, no dust, and no sulfurous gases emitted to the atmosphere."
OIL SHORTAGE MAY HIT U.S. DURING NEXT TWENTY YEARS
Unless new methods of obtaining and processing petroleum are developed, America may begin to feel the cramping hand of an oncoming oil shortage in from 10 to 20 years. This is the verdict of Dr. Arno C. Fieldner, chief of the technologic division of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
Dr. Fieldner, speaking as president of the American Society for Testing Materials, outlined the present resources of the nation's fuels in his address entitled, "Fuels of Today and Tomorrow."
Of coal America has plenty, said Dr. Fieldner. Enough to last hundreds and perhaps a thousand or more years. But natural gas and oil obtained by present methods may be exhausted in less than a century, he warned.
Here is the significant forecast of Dr. Fieldner on America's future fuels:
Coal will continue to be the chief fuel for the generation of public utility and major industrial power. While improved burning of coal might tend to decrease consumption and the further development of water power may be expected to increase, Dr. Fieldner sees an increasing demand for total energy needed by the country so that coal's relative position should be favorable. Moreover, after 10 or 15 years, oil resources will become more difficult to exploit, so that the trend will favor the increased consumption of coal.
"Tomorrow's power and central-heating plants will burn any kind of coal completely and efficiently," said Dr. Fieldner. "There will be no smoke, no dust, and no sulfurous gases emitted to the atmosphere."
