Oil shale of Kentucky, The

Abstract

The most important development to be seen on the industrial horizon is the use of oil shale as a source of supply for crude oil, gasoline, lubricating oil, and ammonium sulphate. Wood long since ceased to be an economic basis for fuel; coal is now in its ascendency, but its use as raw fuel is uneconomical, wasteful, dirty, costly, and unsuited to the demands of the twentieth century. The time is not far distant when the use of raw coal, as fuel, will also be abandoned. Coal will be subjected to low temperature distillation and the products - gas, oil, and coke, - will be used instead. This will conserve our natural store of fuel, save labor, remove the smoke nuisance, conserve our natural resources, and meet the demands of our advancing civilization. With this economic shift from raw coal to its distillation products will come the use of oil shale, after it has yielded, by a process of destructive distillation, gasoline, lubricating oil, gas, and ammonium sulphate. To one who will take a broad, comprehensive view of our economic and industrial future, it must be evident that radical changes are son due in well nigh every phase of our coal, oil, gasoline, gas, and fuel conditions, both as to production and use.