XVI, 



PKESIDENTIAL ADl^KKSS. 



in aminonia, phenols, etc. Electric power generated on 

 a large scale from such waste fuel would, according to the 

 estimate of one of my engineering friends, cost not more 

 than 0.4d. per unit. From Ipswich, it could be distributed 

 all over the Ipswich and Brisbane districts at a cost 1 hat 

 would put electric light, electric power, and electric heating 

 into every home; With modern metallic 'lament lamps^ 

 electric light is already a competitor with gas : and at 

 such a low rate for electricity, it would at once displace 

 gas for lighting, as much cheaper, more sanitary, more 

 convenient : in fact, better in every Avay. T made an 

 attempt to get actual figures as to the probable saving 

 to Brisbane by the adoption of this form of utilisation 

 of the energy of our coal supply, including cost of capital 

 outlay, but statistics and facts were difficult to get, while 

 some necessary factors in the calculation seem almost 

 unobtainable, and they should certainly be handled by 

 an engineer. However, a presidential address is not 

 supposed to concern itself with direct original research, 

 so I will leave the detailed elucidation of this subject to 

 one of our engineering members : more than one good 

 paper could be wTitten on the subject. But I have found 

 enough to justify the statement that the saving would 

 be enormous, both to energy users in cost, and to the 



reserves of coal. 



For example, of the heat produced in cooking at an 

 ordinary stove, probably less than 2 per cent is actually 

 utilised, I can find no statistics of trials, though I under- 

 stand they have been made. But in electrical cooking, 

 from 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the energy is actually 

 utilised. With a low price for electricity the saving would 

 be marked, while the convenience, the cleanHness, the 

 better results, the absence of smells, the ease of controlhng 

 the temperatures, and the great saving of labour, would 

 make the change desirable even if it cost more than at 

 present, instead of less. The hot water reservoirs could, 

 if necessary, be heated at night when there is little demand 

 for other current. Imagine a house where the electric 

 current was cheaply available. There would be no fire 

 to lif^ht in the morning— the oven could be heated, the 

 kettle boiled, the porridge made, eggs and bacon cooked, 

 the bread toasted— all the heat required obtained by the 



