Germanys synthetic fuel industry, 19271945 Chapter uri icon

abstract

  • Germany has virtually no petroleum deposits. Prior to the twentieth century this was not a serious problem because Germany possessed abundant coal reserves. Coal provided for commercial and home heating; it also fulfilled the needs of industry and the military, particularly the navy. In the opening decade of the twentieth century, Germanys fuel requirements began to change. Two reasons were especially important. First, Germany became increasingly dependent on gasoline and diesel oil engines. The appearance of automobiles, trucks, and then airplanes made a plentiful supply of gasoline essential. Moreover, ocean-going ships increasingly used diesel oil rather than coal as their energy source. Second, Germanys continuing industrialization and urbanization led to the replacement of coal with smokeless liquid fuels that not only had a higher energy content but were cleaner burning and more convenient to handle.

altmetric score

  • 3.5

author list (cited authors)

  • Stranges, A.

citation count

  • 20

complete list of authors

  • Stranges, Anthony

editor list (cited editors)

  • Lesch, J. E.

Book Title

  • The German Chemical Industry in the Twentieth Century

publication date

  • January 2000