Electricity.

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 5, 1 March 1911, Page 571

Electricity.

Control of Weather.

Future Electrical Marvels. In his inaugural address to the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Mr. S. Z. do Ferranti, the President, discussed coal conservation, home-grown food, and the better utilisation of labour. He said it was assumed by many people that the climate of Britain was largely unsuitable for the purpose of growing food. This was largely a misconception, as crops, both large in quantity and of good quality, could be produced in this country. It would be a desirable thing, he said, if, instead of the dark weather that we now often experienced owing to cloud obstruction, we could have continuous sunshine at certain times of the year. The amount of sunshine would, no doubt, be largely increased by the abolition of all smoke in the air. At present it was considered quite right and reasonable to canalise rivers and make great works for adding to the fertility of countries by means of irrigation, but he believed the time would come when it would be thought no more wonderful largely to control our weather than it was now thought wonderful to control the water after it had fallen on the land. He thought that it would be possible to acquire knowledge which would enable us largely to control by electrical means the sunshine which reached us, and in a climate which usually had ample, moisture in the atmosphere to produce rainfall when and where we required it. To Command the Clouds. It seemed to him that it might be possible, when .we know a great deal more about electricity than we do to-day, to set up an electrical defence along our coasts by which we could cause the mois* tare in the clouds to fall in the form of rain, and so prevent these clouds drifting over the country between ourselves and the sun, which they now blotted out. It also seemed to him that it would be possible when more water on the country was required to cause the falling of rain from the clouds passing over the highest part of the country, and so produce an abundance of water, which, properly used, would greatly add to the fertility of the country. ; Dealing with the question of the rapid rate at which our coal supplies are being used up, Mr. Ferranti's strong point was that coal could be used more efficiently for the production of electricity than for any other purpose. For the production of heat in our fires or for the production of energy by steam, be stated that usually less than 10 per cent, of the value of the coal was used. Even in the steam turbine the maximum efficiency can only be put down at about 17 to 18 per cent. The big gas engines, fed by gas producers, give something like 25 per cent. In coal fires

and steam engines whose boilers are heated by the direct burning of coal, all the by-products of the coal, such as the ammonia, which, in the form of sulphate of ammonia, is so useful to the agriculturist, are lost. The labour required for distributing coal to all parts of the country and for clearing away the ash is enormous. Electricity as Universal Provider. "We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion," he said, "that the only complete and final solution of the question is to be obtained by the conversion of the whole of the coal which we use for heat and power into electricity, and the recovery of its by-products at a comparatively small number of great electricity-producing, stations. All our wants in the way of light, power, heat, and chemical action would then be met by a supply of electricity distributed all over the country." His proposal, or, rather, his suggestion, was that 100 generating stations, each having a capacity of 250,000 kilowatts, should be erected in suitable parts 'of the country. Each should be situated in some place where both coal and water are readily available. By using the best and most' economical means of producing electricity the power could be distributed at an infinitesimal cost. The by-products would be saved for the farmer, and the cost of labour would be enormously reduced. The electrical supply to houses or factories would furnish all the' heating or power required. In fact, it might be called the all-electrical idea. He concluded by saying that he believed that this idea, with its. far-reaching changes and great benefits, would become an accomlished fact in the near future.