TRANSACTIONS 01'" SECTION G. 671 



4. A General Supply of Gas for Light, Heat, and Potver Production} 

 By A. J. Martin, iM.Inst.C.E. 



The question of a cheap and abundant supply of energy is one of vital 

 importance to this country. During the present ISession a large number of Bills 

 for the supply of electrical energy to London have been before Parliament, and 

 a Select Committee of the House of Commons has recently presented a special 

 report on the subject. Though not seeing their way to give the London County 

 Council the powers which they asked for, the Committee 'consider that the 

 provision of cheap electrical power for London is so important and pressing that 

 they do not view with favour the possibility of the question being indefinitely 

 hung up.' 



While attention has been concentrated upon electricity as a medium for the 

 supply of light, heat, and power, the claims of gas have been to some extent 

 overlooked, although its field of usefulness coincides very closely with that of 

 electricity. 



The late Sir William Siemens used to insist strenuously that gas should be 

 used for all purposes in place of coal, the burning of which in its raw state he 

 denounced as ' a barbarous practice.' The substitution of gas for coal has been 

 greatly impeded by the circumstance that it was first introduced solely as an 

 illuminant, in which light it is still generally regarded. This conception of gas 

 continues to dominate the methods of manufacture and distribution, to the great 

 detriment of users of heat and power. 



The main obstacle to the general use of gas for purposes other than lighting 

 is its cost, which varies from lid. per 1,000 cubic feet (at AVidnes) to upwards of 

 7s. 6d. The higher prices of gas are due to various causes, the chief of which are 

 the standards of illuminating value to which it has to conform, the large capital 

 involved, the disproportionate cost of manufacture on a small scale, and the high 

 prices paid for coal, consequent on the cost of carriage from the collieries. These 

 causes together swell the cost of the gas consumed in this country every year by 

 many millions of pounds. Illuminating standards are now in many cases being 

 relaxed, but not to such an extent as to give the consumer the full benefit to 

 which he is entitled. The effect of high capital charges and that of working on 

 a small scale are automatically reduced with every increase in consumption, 

 and the greater part of the cost of carrying coal may be saved (in the case 

 of London) by making the gas at the pit's mouth, and piping it under pressure to 

 the Metropolis. It is well known among engineers that a pipe line is the cheapest 

 means for transporting anything which can be made to flow. This has long been 

 recognised in the case of water, which no one would think of conveying by rail, 

 except on an emergency, such as recently occurred at Lincoln. Water is piped 

 to Coolgardie, a distance of 352 miles, and petroleum over 400 miles to New York 

 Harbour. The advantage of generatmg power at the collieries on a large scale and 

 transmitting it to the areas of supply, has been pointed out by the Iloyal Com- 

 mission on Coal Supplies, but in this country proposals of this kind have been 

 directed chiefly to the conveyance of electrical energy from the coal-fields. A 

 proposal to supply the Metropolis in this way was laid before the Select Com- 

 mittee, who dismissed it as not suitable. 



Gas has many advantages over electricity for transmission purposes. It can 

 be conveyed at less cost and at a much higher efficiency; it can be stored cheaply 

 and without loss, and used at any desired rate, and it requires no conversions, 

 as in the case of high-tension electricity. Moreover, even where electricity is 

 required, it will generally be cheaper to convert the coal into gas and pipe it for 

 use in gas-engines than to generate current direct from coal. 



Down to very recently the conveyance of gas under high pressures to long 

 distances would have been regarded as impracticable, owing to various difficulties 

 arising from condensation and leakage and to other considerations. Of late 

 years, however, both natural gas and coal gas have been piped in America to 



' Published in the Gas World, August 11, 1906. 



