Evening star., 1936-09-06
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energy as 1t is generated. and thus
accumulating supply for steady or
emergency use. An obvious method,
often suggested, is gravitational stor-
age-i. e.. using the energy to pump
water to elevated reservoirs, and then
releasing the water to drive water
wheels by its fall.
But DR.. Haldane has suggested for
his projected windpower plants an
even more efiicient method Of storage
by chemical means. He would use the
electrical energy to break down water
into its hydrogen and oxygen and
store these gases as fuels.
Vaster than the energy of the winds
and the waters, hundreds of millions
of times the energy Of the worlds
annual fuel output. Is the energy
poured upon the earth by the sun. It
amounts to about a horsepower to
every square yard Of surface on which
sunlight falls.
Sun Motor on Display.
One Of the exhibits in the array of
power machines on display in Wash
AL6 toAA tAAAo WCCh 10 - QUIZ ~
consists Of a boiler heated by solar
rays to temperature of 400 degrees
Fahrenheit and an engine driven by
the steam generated in this solar
boiler. 1t develops half q horsepower
from the rays collected by a mirror Of
IL square feet-and larger units are
practical, says its inventor, DR.. Charles
G. Abbot, the well-known solar as
tronomer and secretary Of the Smith
sonian Institution.
Dr. Abbot's device shows a marked
gain in efficiency over previous designs
Of solar motors, and may be regarded
as an important step toward that
economy in which We may get our
power directly from our star instead Of
indirectly, as at present, via the solar
energy stored in fuels and in the rains
which feed our waterfalls.
Some sort Of energy storage is
necessary auxiliary to solar power
plants, to care for demands during
periods of darkness and cloudiness.
Haldane's chemical storage scheme
should be just as effective for solar
power as for wind power. BY thus
splitting water into its two chemically
active gases, hydrogen and oxygen,
supply of fuel for internal combustion
engines would be continually in the
making. Weight for weight. says Hal
dane, liquid hydrogen is "the most
efficient known method Of storing
energy, as 1t gives about three times
as much heat per pound as petrol"
Liquid Hydrogen.
Perhaps liquid hydrogen is the most
efficient form of energy storage we
know how to use-but Nature knows
q more compact method. It uses
atomic storage. And while we are still
cropping for the master key to unlock
its method and cannot say that we
have an inkling Of the hidden process,
we do know something of the mighty
forces locked up in the atom.
The enormous superiority of atomic
storage over chemical storage was
indicated by Norbert Wiener in q
recent discussion of this question in
Technology Review. A pound Of gaso-
line as used in an automobile engine
delivers about kilowatt hour, equiva-
lent to about 1h horsepower hours.
But pound Of matter carries II 800
million kilowatt hours locked up in
atomic energy.
The attainment of control of atomic
energy would bring q change in the
technique of industry beyond anything
wrought by the great inventions Of
the past. It is not only that auto
mobiles and airplanes would be facili-
tated by having available compact
stores Of energy. but the whole fabric
and structure Of industry would be
radically transformed.
Thus, as DR.. Wiener points out,
transmission lines for the distribution
of electricity would cease to be eco
nomically practicable; it would be
easier to transport the energy bodily
in small allotment Of matter than to
propel an equivalent amount Of elec-
trical energy over wires. Electrifica-
ton of railways would be simplified,
with costly central-power stations and
expensive Transmission systems no
longer necessary. Metallurgical indus