The Romance of Modern Chemistry

NATURE’S STORES OF FUEL We must not forget to include in our fuel capital the vast stock of timber on the surface of the globe, and the enormous quantities also of peat found in many countries. How far may we regard these as reliable sources of fuel ? Wood, is, of course burned in many countries where there is a large extent of forest, but it would be absolute madness to use up all our timber in this way. It is the vegetation of the world which, as we shall see, is the necessary counterpart of animal life, and gradually to cut down all the forests on the face of the globe would be a suicidal policy. Besides, there is a large demand for timber for architectural and constructive purposes, and even as matters are at present, the forest-covered land of North America and Europe is being laid bare at a rapidly increasing rate. Trees do not grow in a hurry, and once the primeval forests are cut down, the keeping up of a supply of timber by planted trees is hardly feasible. And what about peat? In Ireland alone there are over 1,000,000 acres of peat bogs, and it is estimated that an acre of a bog of an average depth of even 8 feet would yield about 1250 tons of dried peat. In Russia there are about 100,000,000 acres of bogs, so that altogether the fuel stored up in the form of peat must be very considerable. What militates against the use of peat as a fuel is the very large amount of moisture which it holds. When freshly dug it may contain as much as 80 to 90 per cent, of water, and the problem is how best to get rid of this and obtain the fibre of the peat in a condition fit for burning. The usual method of exposing the wet peat to air until it is dry requires much time and space. It is further a very bulky fuel, and, probably owing to these causes, the output of peat has never been much greater than sufficed for local de- 139