HARNESSED TIDES.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 April 1920, Page 2

HARNESSED TIDES.

j LONDON, February 10. It is believed that the secret of a cheap method of harnessing the tides has been found. Work is about to begin both on the Dee and the Severn, where power can be produced, according to the estimates of a group of engineers at two-thirds the cost of electric power generated

by coal. More tuan tms, a nun.oo. of estuaries on the west coast have been surveyed, where the cost of installation would be considerably lower. “Great Britain may remain among the greatest manufacturing centres of the world, even if every ounce of coal disappears.” Such is the belief of one eminent foreign engineer, who has studied the possibilities. Models have been set to work within the last months, and they confirm the estimate that power which now costs 3d a unit can lie produced for Jd The essence of the invention is this; the tide works a turbine and makes the power both at its inflow and its outflow, only ceasing for a comparatively small while during the period of half-tide. In one Cheshire and Lancashire district the. great variation in the hour of the tide at neighbouring estuaries makes possible, thanks to an ingenious discovery, the production of maximum energy during an almost continuous period. A Bill is about to come before Parliament for the harnessing of a number of Scottish streams, and Ihe sum of available power in Scotland proves on further investigation to be bigger than was expected.