378 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



would justify the establishment of a works to fix the nitrogen of 

 the air. 



Various Government factories for the supply of munitions of war 

 do not pay, from a strictly competitive point of view, yet everyone 

 recognizes that they must be kept up. 



COST OF POWER. 



It will be of interest to consider briefly what are the prospects as 

 regards the manufacture of nitrogenous products in this country. 

 The problem is, of course, mainly one of cheap power, but to make 

 it worth while there must also be a large supply because some of 

 the furnaces take 1,000 kilowatts and upward. 



In Scotland there are several water powers waiting to be harnessed, 

 and one has been investigated which will give 10,000 kilowatts for 

 a capital expenditure in hydraulic works and electrical plant of 

 £200,000, or £20 per kilowatt installed. It is estimated that electrical 

 energy could be turned out for 35s. per kilowatt-year, after allowing 

 10 per cent for interest and depreciation. The power is capable of 

 extension. 



In Norway electric energy is actually sold at about 20s. a kilowatt- 

 year, or 20 XI- —0.0275 per kilowatt-hour, from which it would ap- 

 pear that the cost of installation is about £10 per kilowatt of plant, 

 and a considerably lower rate than 10 per cent is alloAved for inter- 

 est and depreciation. Of course the carriage of the products from 

 Norway to this country is an item, but it would not be much more 

 than the carriage from Scotland to the south of England. 



We know that very large steam-power stations with turbo-genera- 

 tors can be built for about £10 a kilowatt of plant, because the last 

 extensions at Manchester cost only £12 per kilowatt, as shown by 

 Mr. Pearce's (the chief engineer) figures. 



Per kw. 

 installed. 



Generating machinery, turbine condenser, alternator, etc £3.75 



Boilers, economizers, superheaters, steam pipes, coal and ash conveyors, 



foundations, etc 2. 25 



Switch gear for generators and feeders-- .55 



Buildings with accessories - 5.05 



12.05 



In " Heavy Electrical Engineering," Mr. H. M. Hobart, after care- 

 fully considering all the details of a typical steam-power station, 

 comes to the conclusion that " The complete cost of a station well 

 designed on modern lines for an output of over 100,000,000 kilowatt- 

 hours per year need not exceed £10 per kilowatt." With steam turbo- 



