During WW2, petrol was rationed and largely reserved for essential services or the military.
 In 1941 the Government restricted motorists to 1,000 miles per year (32 km/week) so many simply put their cars up on blocks for the duration and switched to public transport.
Others were offered an alternative source of energy: charcoal to burn in gas converters attached to their cars.
They had a reputation for being inefficient, underpowered, dirty, belching black smoke, catching fire and occasionally exploding.

Forests Commission firefighting vehicles were exempt from the petrol restrictions.
District Foresters were authorised to issue petrol coupons for timber industry trucks, which, in the absence of private cars and utes, often served as family transport too.
Country school buses were fitted with gas converters and on declared days of Acute Fire Danger they were banned.
Some of Melbourne's buses also ran on charcoal.

The task of ensuring adequate supplies of charcoal fell to the Commission.
It subsequently formed the State Charcoal Branch to organise the increased production of charcoal, to build up reserves to meet emergencies and to regulate the cost to consumers.
The assistance of an expert Advisory Panel, representing charcoal producers, manufacturers and distributors of vehicle gas equipment, the Department of Supply and Development, and the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce, was enlisted under the Chairman of the Forests Commission, Alfred Vernon Galbraith.
Preliminary arrangements were made for bag supplies, for railway sidings in Melbourne, and for processing of charcoal bought by the Branch in excess of the requirements of private grading firms.
In its first year, 17,421 tons of charcoal were produced compared with 1,650 tons before the War.
Production peaked at 38,922 tons in 1942–43.

An estimated 221 kilns and 12 pits were producing charcoal by the middle of 1942.
Some of the labour was provided by Italian wartime internees.
There were also over 600 commercial kilns operating mostly on private property.
At least 50 to 60 private charcoal retorts were operating in the Barmah forest alone.

Kurth Kiln was built by the Commission near Gembrook as the only commercially sized charcoal facility in Victoria which could operate continuously.
The kiln was in full production by mid-1942, but transport difficulties and an oversupply of charcoal from private operators meant the kiln was used only intermittently during 1943 and was shut down soon after.
The unique site is now of historical and scientific significance.
During WW2, petrol was rationed and largely reserved for essential services or the military.  In 1941 the Government restricted motorists to 1,000 miles per year (32 km/week) so many simply put their cars up on blocks for the duration and switched to public transport. Others were offered an alternative source of energy: charcoal to burn in gas converters attached to their cars. They had a reputation for being inefficient, underpowered, dirty, belching black smoke, catching fire and occasionally exploding.
Forests Commission firefighting vehicles were exempt from the petrol restrictions. District Foresters were authorised to issue petrol coupons for timber industry trucks, which, in the absence of private cars and utes, often served as family transport too. Country school buses were fitted with gas converters and on declared days of Acute Fire Danger they were banned. Some of Melbourne's buses also ran on charcoal.
The task of ensuring adequate supplies of charcoal fell to the Commission. It subsequently formed the State Charcoal Branch to organise the increased production of charcoal, to build up reserves to meet emergencies and to regulate the cost to consumers. The assistance of an expert Advisory Panel, representing charcoal producers, manufacturers and distributors of vehicle gas equipment, the Department of Supply and Development, and the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce, was enlisted under the Chairman of the Forests Commission, Alfred Vernon Galbraith. Preliminary arrangements were made for bag supplies, for railway sidings in Melbourne, and for processing of charcoal bought by the Branch in excess of the requirements of private grading firms. In its first year, 17,421 tons of charcoal were produced compared with 1,650 tons before the War. Production peaked at 38,922 tons in 1942–43.
An estimated 221 kilns and 12 pits were producing charcoal by the middle of 1942. Some of the labour was provided by Italian wartime internees. There were also over 600 commercial kilns operating mostly on private property. At least 50 to 60 private charcoal retorts were operating in the Barmah forest alone.
Kurth Kiln was built by the Commission near Gembrook as the only commercially sized charcoal facility in Victoria which could operate continuously. The kiln was in full production by mid-1942, but transport difficulties and an oversupply of charcoal from private operators meant the kiln was used only intermittently during 1943 and was shut down soon after. The unique site is now of historical and scientific significance.
Forests Commission Victoria