3120.     ---------------.  [SCHROEDER, W. C.]  Synthesis of Chemicals From Coal and Oil Shale.  Chem. and Eng. News, vol. 29, 1951, p. 1830.

        Paper presented at the National Capital Section meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.  Motor fuels from oil shale are now capable of competing successfully with fuels from petroleum.  It is predicted that an oil-shale plant designed to produce gasoline, motor oil, and Diesel fuel will pay for itself in 8-10 yr.  If operated to manufacture chemicals it could pay for itself in 2-3 yr.  There should be no delay in establishing a synthetic fuels industry; a satisfactory supply of petroleum is to be expected until about 1954, and then increasing shortages will develop.  Nor can the country depend upon imports, particularly during wartime, to make up severe shortages of petroleum.  Furthermore, the cost of producing petroleum will inevitably rise because of the added costs for exploration and for drilling deeper wells.  At the same time, the cost of obtaining synthetic fuels from coal and oil shale is bound to decline.

        ----------.  See abs. 96, 97, 926, 2437, 2530b.