THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 75, 25 September 1941, Page 8

THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT

A generation or more ago the imagination of New Zealand was captivated by the idea of drawing [industrial power from the sky in- | stead of from the earth. There was, in this way of thinking, no fantastic or ethereal element. What skywardlooking New Zealanders saw was a most bounteous rainfall and "water, water, everywhere"—water, the socalled white coal that. American industry had already utilised so enormously. The sky seemed to be an inexhaustible source of this white coal, whereas the black and brown coals drawn from the earth might have limits; so New Zealand, under the first Ward Government, hitched its power wagon to the rainfall and to the waterways and -to the hydroelectric system generally.' Since that period, the rains have by no means abated. Flooding, indeed, has established new records. Erosion has so increased that one would think that the whole North Island was washing into the sea. Only last month rainy days in Wellington eclipsed all records. And yet Mr. Cable stands up in September to caution us against the limitations of the white coal field, and to emphasise our partial dependence on the dirtier coals and on oil fuel.

"It becomes evident," Mr. Cable is reported as saying, "that even if the whole of the undeveloped water-power in our North Island is harnessed, it will be inadequate to meet the demand and' ensure continuity of supply without reliance on fuel plants." Assuming a practical.competitive basis between water-power and fuel plants, there seems to be a limit (notwithstanding our memory of the August rains) to the North Island's water-power, and particularly to the water-power that canl be developed at a capital cost low enough to make it economically comparable with coal and oil at their -present fuel costs. Though skysupplies are inexhaustible, the limit of economic water-power may prove to be less than we thought thirty years ago; and the power-demand, if not limitless, is proving to be much greater than we thought. It would, of course, be very nice if all New Zealand's water-flow were harnessed and delivered to useful work, instead of merely dissolving our country and conveying it into the Pacific, but the economic hurdle is one which the present generation at any rate will fail to surmount. From this economic standpoint, Mr. Cable affirms that' "the installation of steam plants should be viewed as a complementary and not as a competitive system to the existing hydroelectric development." When all fuels become too dear, the sky may finally assert a monopoly in the power field. But that time is not yet. . •