"Under the authorization of the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act of April 1944 (Public Law 290), the Bureau of Mines has operated coal-to-oil facilities at Bruceton, Pa., Morgantown, W. Va., and Louisiana, Mo., and oil-shale installations at Rifle, Colo., and Laramie, Wyo. In cooperation with the Alabama Power Co., it also conducted a series of experiments on the underground gasification of coal at Gorgas, Ala. The program carried out at these stations represents one of the most important and far-reaching of the Government's research projects. There is general agreement that this Nation will find it necessary in the foreseeable future to supplement domestic and imported petroleum with synthetic oil and that the technology for the production of synthetic fuels from coal and oil shale should be developed at an early date. The advent of any new basic industry, such as synthetic ammonia or synthetic liquid fuels, usually is preceded by a relatively long period of research and development. Indeed, it is difficult to determine when and by whom the fundamental concepts are first disclosed. Usually such concepts are not the result of research directed specifically toward ultimate industrial development, but constitute one of the byproducts of scientific inquiry and experiments which have no applied objective. However, between the time of disclosure of the fundamental concepts and the establishment of an industry stretches a long, tortuous path of planned and uniquely directed effort. The magnitude of such effort is amply illustrated by the history of synthetic ammonia industry of the United States. Soon after World War I, a large-scale ammonia plant was built; but, because of poor design and operability, the output was insignificant. This unsuccessful plant venture was followed in a short time by establishment of the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory in the United States Department of Agriculture. For more than 2 decades this laboratory provided essential scientific and engineering data, as well as new and improved catalysts and designs for high-pressure equipment. The approach to the problem was methodical and persevering, and before the start of World War II the industry was fully developed, with ample capacity. The achievement record of the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory is easily observed in many branches of science and engineering as well as in development of the ammonia industry."