THE WORLD'S UNUSED RESOURCES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 10482, 20 October 1894, Page 6

THE WORLD'S UNUSED RESOURCES.

(English Paper.) Wo are paying more attention to the wasted forces of .Nature than was ever done before, and in many ways are winning the character for making this an economic age. Much has been done ; but much more remains to be done. As it is, the waste of combustible materials of which we are now guilty is utterly inconsistent with bur claim to be responsible beings-" intellectual heirs of all the uges”—holding the accumulated stores of Nature in trust. We are using such of our resources as appear to bo easily obtainable, and, what is more, wa are very slow in laying hold of the forces that are now waste. Coal and wood are now tha prime sources of available energy, but wa are squandering them at a fearful rate; so much so, indeed, that in ten or twelve generations, if not sooner, the coalfields of Great Britain will be exhausted, and the country nearly denuded of trees.

This question of our unused heat resources is one of the most important, for with the progress of civilisation there is su increasing demand for fuel to drive. The petroleum wells cannot last for ever, any more than the coal supply. The natural question is: What will be done to secure fresh supplies of heat f ’ The answer given has been this: There appear to be but three possible sources left. First, electricity, which. can he transferred into heat—not an impossibility, because the thing has been tried successfully, platinum and the moat infusible of the minerals having been molted by the enormous heat-power' of the electric arc. Secondly, the heat tbat : is derived from the sun, which is practically inexhaustible. A solar engine has been made whereby sufficient heat was concentrated on a boiler to raise steam so as to drive a steam engine. This would do well in sunny countries, but is not constantly available in such a land as ours. Still, there is a valuable source of heat which at present is neglected. Thirdly, the earth’s internal heat has been suggested as another source of supply, but, as it has been pointed out it would lead to earthquakes and other troubles, the resort to such a source is vary remote indeed. It has been suggested that the tides afford the most striking instance of wasted mechanical power that could be utilised. There can be little doubt that it is to them, when certain mechanical impediments are overcome, we shall look for our motive-power. Professor Thompson has stated that the construction of an embankment, so as to provides tidal basin, say near the Avon, would suffice, turned to mechanical uses, to' charge every year 10,000,000 Faure accumulators, and to raise twenty billions of pounds one foot high. One-tenth of this energy would permanently light the city of Bristol. He says that one-fifth of the tidal energy of the Severn, where the fall and rise exceed 23ft, would, transmuted into electricity, be enough to light every city, and turn every loom, spindle and axle in the United Kingdom. Professor Perry prophesies that we shall have central stations where steam engines will drive electrical machines, which will drive machinery and work everything required in household economy. He adds that, with properly constructed machinery, the energy of Niagara could be converted into electrical power, and be transmitted to New York, there to be used for everything to which human labour is applied, and to much for which human strength is inadequate. It is said that the power expended in Niagara is as great as would be provided for steam-engine purposes by fifty-six million pounds’ worth of coal a One scheme has been suggested which appears very wild; yet there is no reason why it should not. receive consideration. It has been said that the power of the great whirlpool off the coast of Norway is deplorably wasted, but that it might be utilised by moans of an immense horizontal water-wheel. , . The atmosphere, as a source of mechanical power, has been seriously disregarded, although in a clumsy fashion it has been utilized to drive the great fans of windmills, and is one of the greatest motive powers on the ocean. Gradually the use or compressed air is dawning upon men. A pneumatic tube, some 700 miles long, connects Paris and Berlin, and letters are sent its whole length at the enormous rate of twenty miles a minute. _ ' . , Compressed air, moreover, is now adopted for raising sunken vessels, by placing collapsible rubber bags in the hold, and inflating them. What has been already done, is suggestive of great possibilities.