Benzole
A motor fuel made as a by-product of town gas production or from the gas exhausted from coke ovens serving the metallurgical industry.
By 1908 there was considerable confusion in Britain between the terms benzine, benzol, benzole, and benzoline[1].
By the 1910, benzol/benzole was the most frequently used of these terms in Commercial Motor.
1913 A critique of the use of benzole as a motor spirit was published. It was seen as potentially a locally-made alternative to petrol. There were several tens of suppliers of benzole in Britain.[2]
1913 The Del Monte Process was in use in a plant at the Birchenwood Colliery to make Benzole
1913 The gas from coke ovens at Bridgewater Collieries, Lambton Colliery, Whitton Colliery, the Clay Cross Co's collieries and also at the Lowmoor Iron Works was stripped to produce crude benzole, sulphate of ammonia and tar; the benzole could be refined to make benzine motor spirit[3]
1914 Motorists were avoiding 3d/gallon tax by use of benzole rather than petrol - something which displeased British Petroleum[4]
1918 At the time of the Armistice, the gas producers in this country were stripping their gas to make benzole at a level of 11,000,000 gallons/year; in addition 21,000,000 gallons/year were being made by the coke ovens used in the metallurgical industry. There was potential to increase the make from the gas industry to 40,000,000 gallons/year if a reduction in calorific value of the gas was acceptable. Thus the potential for carbonising coal would supply about a quarter of the nation's requirements for petrol. It might be possible to increase the use of low temperature carbonisation of coal but the other products of this process might present challenges, particularly whether they would be acceptable to other users.[5]
1919 Formation of the National Benzole Association, chaired by D. Milne-Watson of the Gas Light and Coke Co. and involving many of the main benzole producers, intended to establish a new distribution organisation to rival that of the petrol companies[6]. Soon afterwards the National Benzole Co was established with the Association offering to provide a point of advice on benzole and any general matters the National Benzole Co., Ltd., may refer for assistance and suggestion, to make suggestions to the company in respect of any proposals to popularize the use of benzole by motor vehicle users and increase the consumption, and to vet the development of other home-produced rotor spirits, and to advise the board as to a separation in any or all of these developments.[7]