THE WORLD'S WATER POWER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3383, 15 January 1919, Page 55

THE WORLD'S WATER POWER.

Now that fuel of all kinds has become so much more costly than it was, and is never again likely to be obtainable at pre-war prices, the inhabitants of nearly all civilised countries are taking an increased interest in other sources of power, of- which the most promising is water. A preliminary report of the British Committee of the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies appointed 'to report on what is at present being done to ascertain the amount and distribution of water-power in the British Empire,' of which an abridgment recently appeared in Nature, contains some interesting matter bearing upon this subject. A rough estimate gives the total amount of power used throughout the world as 120 million horse-power, of which 24 millions are employed for the propulsion of ships, leaving 96 millions for factories and railways, which could be worked by water-power if that were available. Of this" 96 million horse-power, 13 millions are said to be used in the United Kingdom, and six millions in the British dominions and dependencies. The estimated horse-power available from hydraulic sources in various countries is given in a table, together with the amounts already developed, and other data. From these we learn that Great Britain has available some 963,000 horsepower, though this estimate is considered by Nature to be much too high. According to a 1915 estimate, only 80,000 horse-power has hitherto been developed. The waters of Canada are also capable of yieHing far more power than is at present demanded of them, nearly 27 million horsepower being available, while only about three and a-half millions are as yet developed. Germany is far and away the most godhead country as regards development, over 43 per cent, of her nearly one and a-half million horse-power being utilised, against a little over 8 per cent, in Great Britain the lowest of all except Russia, which employs only 5 per cent, of her resources. During the past 10 years great progress has been made in the manufacture of nitrates from the air by means of water-power, some 400,000 horsepower being thus employed in Norway alone. Owing to the probable future exhaustion of natural nitrate deposits, and the increasing demand for nitrates throughout the world's wheat and cotton growing areas, it is thought that their manufacture from the air must be greatly extended. In Canada the water-power available is amply sufficient for this purpose, as her requirements, when all her cultivable land is cultivated, are estimated at 10 million tons, which could be produced by three and a-third million horsepower. Among the conclusions arrived at by the committee are (1) that 50 to 70 million horse-power are available from the hydraulic resources of the British Empire, (2) that much of this could be economically developed at once, and (3) that the development of such enormous possibilities should be carried out under the guidance of some competent authority.