THE POWER PROBLEM OP THE FUTURE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7374, 28 January 1902, Page 4

THE POWER PROBLEM OP THE FUTURE.

Cassier's Magazine for November contains an interesting paper by Mr Mcndenhall on the power problem of the future This problem has been altered by the application of electricity to the transmission of power and the storing of energy. It is this question of the storage of energy that blocks the way. As soon as a method can be devised of storing energy economically, a fresh impulse will be given to the utilisation of the dormant forces in the winds and in the waves. Wind power, as Mr Mendenhall points out, has many advantages over water power. The total amount at our disposal is enormous. With unconscious humour, he adds I that in one sense it is " current " supply, and not, as in the case of coal, a " draught " upon a limited stock. Water power is, however, attracting more attention at present from the expert. But even if the whole of the power ot, says, the Niagara Falls were made available, it is calculated that it would only be equivalent to one-twelfth of the power due to the coal of the States. And at present only two per cent, of that power is available. Badiant heat is dismissed, as under " present conditions it is not worth considering as a possible source of power. Two sources remain — tidal power and the energy stored in the interior of the eßrth. As to the first of these sources, if it can be " tapped successfully it might ba drawn on indefinitely," and it is consoling to know that " every demand might be satisfied wichout serious disturbance of the solar system." As for the interior heat of the earth, the temperature increases with the depth at an average rate wh : ch suggests 5000 degrees Fahr. at fifty miles below the surface. Of course there ib no need to go as far down as fifty miles for our best engine. In many parts of the world "comparatively high temperatures are found very near the surface, while in all parts considerable rangea are possible within reasonable differences of level." Here, then, are all the elements of a boat engine, and as soon as it is possible economically to convarfc the energy of heat into electrioity on a sufficiently large scale more attention must inevitably be paid to " this rolling ball " as our chief source of power. Thus Mr MeLdenhalJ. But Lord Kelvin's panacea is "cheap windmills."

awera.