Sugar and Alcohol from Cellulose. (The British Empire Producers' Organization.)--A report has been received by the Power Alcohol Section of the organization of the first tests carried ont in a factory in Germany on a commercial scale for using sawdust, straw, sisal waste and bagasse as raw materials for the production of grape sugar and ethyl alcohol.
The process c~nsists of the saturation by hydrochloric gas. in the presence of catalysts, of the raw materials, and in a period of under one hour the whole of the cellulose content is converted into glucose. This glucose is then treated for the removal of the acid, and can be either sold as cattle food, or refined, as pure white glucose for human consumption, or it can be fermented into alcohol for fuel, industrial and potable purposes. As much as 60 per cent. of the weight of the dried sawdust has been obtained in pure sugar, and in the case of straws and other materials higher percentages are obtained.
The development of such a process must have a far-reaching effect in the Dominions and Colonies where large supplies of raw material of the kind mentioned are now being wasted, and also in those countries where abundant supplies of grasses and bamboos are available, as these materials are equally suitable for conversion into alcohol.
Various European governments are investigating the process and the Australian Government has sent a representative. It seems probable that this process in the near future will provide countries with an alternate motor fuel supply to that of petrol.