ATOMIC ENERGY — OLIPHANT 225 



It seems to me that all industrial power should be distributed as 

 electrical energy, except for some special purposes where gas is essen- 

 tial, and that there is no excuse whatever for the use of solid fuel in 

 the home. The average efficiency of domestic appliances burning coal 

 does not approach the over-all efficiency of generation and distribu- 

 tion of electric power, and there are important reasons why effi- 

 ciency should not be the only criterion of choice. Anyone who has 

 considered the dirt and grime created by the distribution of coal and 

 its use in the home, the domestic drudgery it causes, and the fog that 

 it brings in winter, must agree that from the viewpoint of the house- 

 wife without domestic help, the all-electric house is essential, if she 

 is to share the 40-hour week of her husband. Those who advocate 

 the use of solid fuel in central-heating systems or in open fires are 

 either well supplied with domestic servants or oblivious to the elemen- 

 tary rights of womenfolk. 



The cost of coal for the generation of electricity is only part of the 

 cost of electric power. Where industrial power costs one penny for 

 a kilowatt-hour, the coal will cost about one-third of a penny and the 

 cost of generation and distribution will account for the other two- 

 thirds. If the coal were free, the cost of electric power would be 

 reduced by less than 30 percent. Distribution costs fall rapidly as 

 the average load on a system increases. That is why electricity is 

 cheaper in towns than it is in the country. Thus, the complete elec- 

 trification of the country and the abolition of domestic heating by 

 solid fuel would so increase the load factor on the distribution system 

 that the cost of electricity would fall. If atomic fuel proves cheaper 

 than coal, and we will see that this may well be the case, the price of 

 electricity would be appreciably reduced still further. 



WHAT IS ATOMIC ENERGY? 



The name "atomic energy" is a misnomer. The energy obtained from 

 burning coal or other fuel is more properly called atomic energy since 

 it arises from the combination of the atoms of carbon and hydrogen 

 in the fuel with atoms of oxygen in the air. This chemical energy re- 

 sults from the hooking together of atoms of carbon or hydrogen and 

 atoms of oxygen, to produce carbon dioxide or water. The "hooks," 

 or chemical bonds, arise from the interaction of the outermost electrons 

 (negative charges of electricity), which form the relatively soft and 

 tenuous "skin" of the atoms. The energy set free when coal is burnt 

 is considerable, 1 pound of coal liberating 3-4 kilowatt-hours of heat 

 which, by use of steam turbines in an electrical-generating station, will 

 produce about 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity, i. e., IVs horsepower for 

 an hour. Approximately two-thirds of the heat produced in burning 

 coal in a power station is wasted, mainly to warm the water from the 



