NATURE 



[August 31, 191 1 



able to attempt to utilise terrestrial heat from bore-holes ; 

 others have deduced that from the tides, the winds, and 

 water-power small supplies of energy are no doubt obtain- 

 able, but that, in comparison with that derived from the 

 combustion of coal, they are negligible ; nothing is to be 

 hoped for from the direct utilisation of solar heat in this 

 temperate and uncertain climate, and it would be folly to 

 consider seriously a possible supply of energy in a conceiv- 

 able acceleration of the liberation of energy by atomic 

 change. It looks utterly improbable, too, that we shall 

 ever be able to utilise the energy due to the revolution of 

 the earth on her axis, or to her proper motion round the 

 sun. 



Attention should undoubtedly be paid to forestry and to 

 the utilisation of our stores of peat. On the Continent, the 

 forests are largely the property of the State ; it is un- 

 reasonable, especially in these latter days of uncertain 

 tenure of property, to expect any private owner of land 

 to invest money in schemes which would at best only 

 benefit his descendants, but which, under our present trend 

 of legislation, do not promise even that remote return. 

 Our neighbours and rivals, Germany and France, spend 

 annually 2,200,000/. on the conservation and utilisation 

 of their forests ; the net return is 6,000,000!. There is no 

 doubt that we could imitate them with advantage. More- 

 over, an increase in our forests would bring with it an 

 increase in our water-power, for without forest land rain 

 rapidly reaches the sea, instead of distributing itself so as 

 to keep the supply of water regular, and so more easily 

 utilised. 



Various schemes have been proposed for utilising our 

 deposits of peat : I believe that in Germany the peat 

 industry is moderately profitable ; but our humid climate 

 does not lend itself to natural evaporation of most of the 

 large amount of water contained in peat, without which 

 processes of distillation prove barely remunerative. 



We must therefore rely chiefly on our coal reserve for 

 our supply of energy, and for the means of supporting our 

 population ; and it is to the more economical use of coal 

 that we must look in order that our life as a nation may 

 be prolonged. We can economise in many ways : By the 

 substitution of turbine engines for .reciprocating engines, 

 thereby reducing the coal required per horse-power from 

 4 to s lb. to i\ or 2 lb. ; by the further replacement of 

 turbines by gas engines, raising the economy to 30 per 

 cent, of the total energy available in the coal, that is, 

 lowering the coal consumption per horse-power to 1 or 

 \\ lb. ; by creating the power at the pit-mouth, and dis- 

 tributing it electrically, as is already done in the Tyne 

 district. Economy can also be effected in replacing " bee- 

 hive " coke ovens by recovery ovens; this is rapidly being 

 done ; and Dr. Beilby calculates that in 1909 nearly six 

 million tons of coal, out of a total of sixteen to eighteen 

 millions, were coked in recovery ovens, thus effecting a 

 saving of two to three million tons of fuel annually. Pro- 

 gress is also being made in substituting gas for coal or 

 coke in metallurgical, chemical, and other works. But it 

 must be remembered that for economic use gaseous fuel 

 must not be charged with the heavy costs of piping and 

 distribution. 



The domestic fire problem is also one which claims our 

 instant attention. It is best grappled with from the point 

 of view of smoke. Although the actual loss of thermal 

 energy in the form of smoke is small — at most less than a 

 half per cent, of the fuel consumed — still the presence of 

 smoke is a sign of waste of fuel and careless stoking. In 

 works, mechanical stokers, which ensure regularity of 

 firing and complete combustion of fuel, are more and more 

 widely replacing hand-firing. But we are still utterly 

 wasteful in our consumption of fuel in domestic fires. 

 There is probably no single remedy applicable ; but the 

 introduction of central heating, of gas fires, and of grates 

 which permit of better utilisation of fuel will all play a 

 part in economising our coal. It is open to argument 

 whether it might not be wise to hasten the time when 

 smoke is no more by imposing a sixpenny fine for each 

 offence ; an instantaneous photograph could easily prove 

 the offence to have been committed, and the imposition of 

 the fine might be delayed until three warnings had been 

 given by the police. 



Now I think that what I wish to convey will be best 



NO. 2183, VOL. 87] 



expressed by an allegory. A man of mature years, who 

 has surmounted the troubles of childhood and adolescence 

 without much disturbance to his physical and mental state, 

 gradually becomes aware that he is suffering from loss of 

 blood ; his system is being drained of this essential to life 

 and strength. What does he do? If he is sensible he calls 

 in a doctor, or perhaps several, in consultation ; they 

 ascertain the seat of the disease, and diagnose the cause. 

 They point out that while consumption of blood is necessary 

 for healthy life, it will lead to a premature end if the 

 constantly increasing drain is not stopped. They suggest 

 certain precautionary measures ; and if he adopts them he 

 has a good chance of living at least as long as his con- 

 temporaries ; if he neglects them his days are numbered. 



That is our condition as a nation. We have had our 

 consultation in 1903 ; the doctors were the members of the 

 Coal Commission. They showed the gravity of our case, 

 but we have turned a deaf ear. 



It is true that the self-interest of coal consumers is 

 slowly leading them to adopt more economical means of 

 turning coal into energy. But I have noticed, and fre- 

 quently publicly announced, a fact which cannot but strike 

 even the most unobservant. It is this : When trade is 

 good, as it appears to be at present, manufacturers are 

 making money ; they are overwhelmed with orders, and 

 have no inclination to adopt economies which do not appear 

 to them to be essential, and the introduction of which 

 would take thought and time, and which would withdraw 

 the attention of their employees from the chief object of 

 the business — how to make the most of the present oppor- 

 tunities. Hence improvements are postponed. When bad 

 times come, then there is no money to spend on improve- 

 ments ; they are again postponed until better times arrive. 



What can be done? 



I would answer : Do as other nations have done and are 

 doing ; take stock annually. The Americans have a per- 

 manent Commission initiated by Mr. Roosevelt, consisting 

 of three representatives from each State, the sole object of 

 which is to keep abreast with the diminution of the stores 

 of natural energy, and to take steps to lessen its rate. 

 This is a non-political undertaking, and one worthy of 

 being initiated by the ruler of a great country. If the 

 example is followed here the question will become a 

 national one. 



Two courses are open to us : first, the laissez-faire plan 

 of leaving to self-interested competition the combating of 

 waste ; or second, initiating legislation which, in the 

 interest of the whole nation, will endeavour to lessen the 

 squandering of our national resources. This legislation 

 may be of two kinds ; penal, that is, imposing a penalty 

 on wasteful expenditure of energy supplies ; and helpful, 

 that is, imparting information as to what can be done, 

 advancing loans at an easy rate of interest to enable re- 

 forms to be carried out, and insisting on the greater pros- 

 perity which would result from the use of more efficient 

 appliances. 



This is not the place, nor is there the time, to enter into 

 detail ; the subject is a complicated one, and it will demand 

 the combined efforts of experts and legislators for a genera- 

 tion ; but if it be not considered with the definite intention 

 of immediate action, we shall be held up to the deserved 

 execration of our not very remote descendants. 



The two great principles which I have alluded to in an 

 earlier part of this address must not, however, be lost 

 sight of ; they should guide all our efforts to use energy 

 economically. Concentration of energy in the form of 

 electric current at high potential makes it possible to convey 

 it for long distances through thin, and therefore com- 

 paratively inexpensive, wires ; and the economic coefficient 

 of the conversion of mechanical into electrical, and of 

 electrical into mechanical, energy is a high one ; the use- 

 less expenditure does not much exceed one-twentieth part 

 of the energy which can be utilised. These considerations 

 would point to the conversion at the pit-mouth of the 

 energy of the fuel into electrical energy, using as an 

 intermediary turbines, or preferably gas engines, and dis- 

 tributing the electrical energy to where it is wanted. The 

 use of gas engines may, if desired, be accompanied by the 

 production of half-distilled coal, a fuel which burns nearly 

 without smoke, and one which is suitable for domestic 

 fires, if it is found too difficult to displace them and to 



