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HlGH-SCHOOL CIIEMISTRY
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The Storehouse of Civilization C . C . FURNAS Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
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gasoline tank with its store of liquid fuel. In thi% country we have been using one and one half billion barrels of petroleum every year; which is quite a puddle of any kind of fluid. The k n o w oil reserves a t the present time are enough to last for twenty or thirty years. More petroleum will be found, of course, but we have no assurance that it will be enough to guarantee a supply to this country for as long as the rest of this generation. After this most lush of our natural resources is gone, what can we do about it? For one thing, if anyone could devise a practical method of getting all of the petroleum out of a given deposit in the ground, our potential supply would be doubled. For, even with the best of modern practices, about 60 per cent of the original petroleum is left in the ground after the well has gone dry. This is due to the great porosity of the oil-bearing rock and its consequent affinity for the treasure it holds. The output of some wells has been increased by the process of repressuring. This may be done by pumping either water or gas back into the wells to force the oil out. Even this procedure, however, does not increase the yield by more than an additional 10 per cent. Complete extraction of all of the petroleum is a problem in surface chemistry which has yet to be sol.ved. Germany, and England to some extent, have added to their petroleum supply by preparing liquid fuel from the hydrogenation of coal. The fuel produced by such a method is from four to five times as expensive to manufacture. The extraction of oil directly from the oil-bearing shale is another ~ossiblesource of liauid fuel. Scotland has used this iethod, and it w& considered in the United States during World War I. The amount of oil shale available runs to billions of tons. However, only one to five barrels of crude oil can be obtained from a' ton of rock. The labor involved in extracting a billion barrels of oil a year would consequently be enormous, and the rocky residue would bring up a major waste disposal problem. One researcher found that the shale from which oil had been removed was good material for the manufacture of tooth paste. If the rock necessary to produce a billion barrels of oil were used in the manufacture of tooth paste, each person in the country would have ten tons of tooth paste a year! Hardly a solution to a waste problem. The use of alcohol manufactured from farm products cannot be enthusiastically considered, for i t is not economical to produce all the fuel by this means. It may, however, be used as a diluent. The poor economy SOURCES OF POWER involved can readily be seen, as all the available corn Much of our present-day living is built around the land would have to be devoted to this purpose, and 179
T SEEMS to be customary, particularly amongthose who specialize in looking backward, to hold up the life in the Greek City States during their Golden Age as the ideal of the good life and the essence of democracy. Non-realists never seem to remember, or a t atly rate they never seem to point out, that during that apparently Utopian period there were, for every 10 freemen, a t least 15 slaves who did the routine and menial work. So while the 10 freemen could talk and practice democracy, the 15 slaves could not even think democracy, much less live it. At present, for the first time in history, we have really come to a sound basis for a true democracy. For, instead of using human hands and backs for the routine tasks of daily living, we now have inanimate slaves. In our machinery, a single installed horsepower is equivalent to about 10 slavepower. This means that energy equivalent to about 10 sets of human muscles is ready to do the bidding of each of us a t the throw of a lever or the push of a button. In order to bring out the fact that the new civilization which is arising is really diierent from anything in the past, it is well to have a sort of yardstick that will give us a measure of things. Since the year 1917, the mineral wealth which has been taken from the surface of the earth andput into industrial production bas equaled all of the mineral wealth which was taken from the earth in all preceding history. In other words, in the last 25 years, we have used more of the materials of 'our surroundings for industrial purposes than had been used during the last 25,000 years, or 25,000,000, if you choose. The amount may not continue to increase at this rate, but unquestionably more and more use will be made of our mineral wealth for industrial purposes, because there are hundreds of millions of people in the world who, when given the opportunity, will have a great desire for the goods and services and gadgets which are the products of industry. Does this give a little idea of the hugeness of our future task in the utilization of our resources? And some idea of the importance of maintaining their supply? But what of the sources of power with which our machine slaves are to be run? How long will we be able to continue our civilization a t this present rapid rate? How much coal and gas and water power is there to devote to power production? And how many tons of the metals from which our machines are made? What of our agricultural land, source not only of food but of many of the raw materials for today's industries? Can our great storehouse supply all that we need?
there would be none left to devote to food needs. What is more, the land would soon be ruined by perennial usage for the same crop, unless the American farmer were to display far greater facility in the use of complete artificial fertilizers than he has to date. It would be entirely correct to say that recourse to these new fuels would only postpone the evil day of depletion. But in the matter of coal, we happen to be quite happily situated. At the present rate of consumption, there is enough coal, in proved reserves, in the United States to last for three thousand years: However, this is by no means all high-grade coal. Another thing, we Americans have over 50 per cent of the known coal reserves in the world. Yet we have only 6 per cent of the world's population. If the other 94 per cent of the world's peoples decide that we shall have to divide up, then it will be q&te likely that this particularly valuable storehouse will not last as long as we had thought. Remember that redistribution of use of the world's resources is one of the economic items back of World War 11. Water power is a third valuable asset with which this country is endowed. One three-thousandth of the water on the earth's surface is evaporated by the sun's rays each year. Much of this is again precipitated in the high mountain ranges. The industrial eastern portion of our country is particularly favored by a relatively heavy rainfall. Consequently there is much hydroelectric power available. Yet, hydroelectric power makes up only 45 per cent of the total electric power supply. And a t present the total energy demands are 20 times those of the electric demands. But no matter what new techniques we develop, or new methods of using our sources of coal, petroleum, and hydroelectric power, eventually these storehouses will be either empty, or insufficient to meet our demands. What is to be done then to assure an energy supply? h o n g the many ideas which have been proposed for the development of power, perpetual motion machines have probably gained the most attention-with the least reason. Somewhat more practical, the French scientist, Claude, built a device which took advantage of the differencein temperature of the surface water and the deep water of tropical oceans. Polar windmills have been suggested as a means of harnessing the everblowing polar gales. Power from waves is not practical. Tide motors have been tried a t certain judiciously chosen locations about the world. But they are expensive to construct, more so than steam turbines, and the places of vantage are too remote from centers of industry to transmit the energy harnessed. Atomic energy is yet another possibility. Atoms are concentrated energy, as recent research has demonstrated. But, as yet, more energy must be put into the process of smashing atoms than is obtained as a result. And the problem still remains to convert the energy obtained into a usable form. Thus far we have only sponged off the fossil energy
of past ages. It cannot go on forever. Conserve all you wish, but eventually the last bit of petroleum and coal will be gone. We can only stretch the supply-not retain it permanently. Eventually we must go back to the original source of energy, the sun's rays. If we must rely on the sun's rays, then i t will be up to the chemist and the physicist to find the means of doing it. It will require ingenuity, but the solution to the problem certainly should not be impossible. There will. be atr ample supply of energy with which to work, for as much energy falls on the earth in one minute as the human race utilizes in one year. We will never run out of energy altogether; but we may never have enough ingenuity to use i t effectively. THE METALS
When you burn a gallon of gasoline it is gone as an energy producer, and you won't get it back. But when you use a pound of metal, i t is always there on the surface of the earth. It may be corroded, i t may be torn to bits, it may be scattered over the landscape. But the Law of Conservation of Matter is still working, and the metal is not destroyed. It is only changed in form, or dispersed over the country. The miner, in his many modified forms, has been the backbone of our civilization, for he has dug out the raw materials of the earth. His task becomes progressively more difficult as we use up the best mineral deposits. For, obviously, the rich deposits of ores which we now use will not last forever. If the rising curve of use continues, there may be a very serious shortage before the end of this generation. As far as America's present situation is concerned, we frequently hear about the lack of an adequate supply of workable grades of ores of tin, tungsten, chromium, and manganese. We feel comfortable about our supply of the important metals, copper and zinc. But the known supply of American copper and zinc ores of the grades now considered workable will last only about 25 years a t the present rate of consumption. In evaluating the gravity of the situation for a society without metals, remember that the savages are separated from the civilized by the knowledge, or lack of knowledge, of the uses of metals. How are we to go about helping the Law of Conservation to act? How are we to insure ourselves of a continuing supply of the important minerals? The ways in which conservation can be brought about are three. First, reuse of the metals that have already been used once. The junk or scrap man, in'other words, is a real benefactor to civilization, for he collects the things that are mechanically worn out and delivers them to the metallurgical plant where they can be prepared for use again. But only a percentage, a t best, can be recovered; about 25 per cent of the iron and steel, 30 per cent of the lead, 10 per cent of the zinc. Secondly, technology can help man conserve his mineral supply. For technology can devise ways and means of satisfactorily using lower grade materials.
APRIL, 1945 At the present time, for example, a usable made of iron ore in this country must haveabout 50 of iron. The supply of this grade of ore in the tremendous Mesabi fields-in Minnesota will last for only 100 years. Yet, if improved technology could enable us to make use of iron ore which contains only 35 per cent of iron, there would be enough in this field to supply our needs for 7000. years. To some extent, more of all other metals would be made available by changed, techniques in refining ores. The history of gold recovery in this country is the result of improving methods. . At first, gold was recovered from our western ores by the crude gravity methods-pans and sluice boxes, for example. Great ore dumps piled up around the worked-out deposits. Then the amalgamation process came into use. It was more efficient, so the old ore dumps were worked again by this new method. Then came the cyanide process, and it became profitable to go back and work the old ore dumps yet again, for the cyanide process was far more efficient than either of the others. For the future, chemists have large blocks of work cut out for them in the field of technology. The amount and value of the metal deposits depend greatly upon the methods available for handling the materials. The third important item in metal conservation is the use of substitutes of the more plentiful metals for those which are scarce. For instance, though rich iron deposits might eventually be depleted, i t would be almost impossible to use up all of the potential aluminum supply-provided, that is, that a method can be developed for the recovery of aluminum metal from clays. The research departments of the Tennessee Valley Authority have done extensive work on the preparation of pure alumina from high-grade clays. I t is quite possible that this work may soon make the process commercially practical. Another example of a possible substitute for less abundant materials is the still lighter metal, magnesium. On January 15, 1942, the Dow Chemical Company put a plant in operation a t Freeport, Texas, for the recovery of magnesium metal from sea water. This was the first industrial tapping of the absolutely limitless mine of the sea for one of our most important metals. The sea is a source which one can quite confidently say will never be depleted-if by "never" you can confine yourself to a few million years. One could go through the record of production and use of some twenty of our important metals and find ways of conservation by recirculation, use of lower grade ores, or by substitution. With such an extensive list of possibilities, we can be fairly cheerful about the future. Provided, of course, that our civilization supports enough research and development to solve the problems. Conservation is one of those bridges which you must prepare to cross before you come to it. Which means that America must learn to use foresight -a commodity which has often been lacking in this country.
181 AGRICULTURE
The third great resource of our lives is the agricultural land. For, no matter how industrialized we may become, we must always depend on the soil and its products for a great part of our activities. We must always eat-the idea of a manufactured pill diet is a myth. Industry, too, depends on the soil for a great many of its raw materials. In view of these demands, we may become a little frightened if we look a t the trend of things agricultural in the United States. In spite of all our advances in machinery, in increased knowledge, and in the efforts of thousands of county agents, agricultural short courses, and farmers' meetings, the productivity of the American land, as measured by the average production per acre, has been steadily going down during the last two generations. There are two reasons for this decrease in productivity. First, the lack of maintenance of fertility of the soil. Second, mechanical erosion by wind and water. The activity of various groups, particularly the Department of Agriculture, within the last several years has pointed the way to the solution of the problem of erosion. Soon erosion will no longer be a cause of decreasing soil productivity. But the problem of maintaining the permanent fertility of the soil is still a long way from being solved. It is quite likely that recent scientific advances have made available enough information to point the way to success. Success will be attained largely through adequate artificial fertilization and proper types of crops. The increasing use of agricultural products as the raw materials of industry really aggravates the problem, although it may help out the farmer by finding a market for his goods. For instance, in each Ford car there are about thirty pounds of soy beans used for plastics and for lacquer. Furfural is extracted from rice hulls and used for the refining of lubricating oil. All the fibers which we get from the soil are carried off, and consequently bring about a depletion of the original virgin laud. This is true also of lumber, and especially of those types of lumber which are used for making paper. There is an increasing tendency to use agricultural raw materials for plastics and a variety of minor chemical products. This tendency will probably increase in volume. Although these products consist largely of carbohydrates, or of other compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the total removal of the more essential mineral elements of the soil already amounts to a very large figure per year, and will undoubtedly increase tremendously. Though industry brings an added burden and problem to the maintenance of the fertility of the soil, industry may eventually be the means of solving the problem. Eventually the interested people-and everyone should he interested-will realize that this is a scientific and technological problem, and must be solved by the methods of scientists and technologists. It will be solved in the same way that complex problems
are solved in large industries. As a matter of fact, agriculture is an industry, a huge one. It just has not realized it yet. CONSERVATION AND DEMOCRACY
Not only the political form of democracy, but also the very fundamental basis of a civilized life depends upon the maintenance and wise use of these uatural resources which fill our great Storehouse of Civilization. The problems of wise use and conservation are going to become more difficult in the future than they are a t present, not only because of the great depletion which has already taken place, but because of the probably greater use throughout the entire world of these re-
sources. But every depletion problem has an answer, through the clever manipulations of chemists, physicists, and technologists. Their contributions to conservation can be positive. They can extetid the available supply of raw materials on and on, practically without limit. The answers to the problems which such a future presents will not come from patient and watchful waiting, however. They will come only from hard work-careful research. The only real danger that we may wait too long before we begin to look for the answers. Some of the problems are immediately pressing. It is high time for more chemical research to be directed toward the positive side of conserving our uatural resources.
