marked economy in fuel eonsumpi ion will in the end survive 

 the steam power plant. 



The type of producer plant used on land is manifestly 

 not suited for marine work, as it weighs as a rule over 

 200 tt»s. per brake horse power, but producer plants designed 

 especially for marine work can be built weighing from 75 

 to 90 lbs. and occupying a floor space of £ to | of a square 

 foot per B.H.P. It is therefore evident that the marine 

 gas producer has a decided advantage both in weight and 

 space occupied per B.H.P. over the steam plant, which for 

 passenger and cargo service weighs a trifle under 200 lbs- 

 and occupied about § square foot per B.H.P. 



The importance to Australian trade of the development 

 of the marine producer gas plant can hardly be over- 

 estimated. There are at present several vital difficulties 

 that have to be overcome before the suction gas plant can 

 be made as flexible as the steam plant. These, however, 

 are being seriously grappled with and everything points to 

 the fact that this form of obtaining energy is rapidly coming 

 to the front. A large vessel has lately been built and 

 equipped with such plant in the United States, but par- 

 ticulars as to her effectiveness have not yet come to hand. 

 Locally a lighter was recently built and equipped with a 

 producer gas plant. 



Coming next to the question of Harbours and Wharfage 

 for the protection and accommodation of this ever-increas- 

 ing volume of shipping, it is interesting to note the progress 

 that is being made in this direction. All over the world 

 the evolution of shipping, which shows as yet no signs of 

 working itself out, is causing great activity in marine 

 engineering; indeed it is scarcely too much to say that for 

 many reasons it is difficult, if not impossible, for harbour 

 works to keep even pace with the increasing requirements 

 of over-sea shipping. What was a few years ago sufficient 



