Notes

Abstract

IT has been generally understood that the Water Power Resources Committee of the Board of Trade has for some time been considering the possibility of tidal-power development, with special reference to the Severn estuary. In view of this it would be of interest to know to what extent the scheme formulated by the Ministry of Transport has been influenced by the conclusions of that Committee. As outlined and illustrated in the Times of November 26, the scheme would appear to be open to certain weighty objections, and, in view of the large number of technical problems, alike in mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic engineering, which require to be co-ordinated and solved before any such scheme can be embarked upon with any certainty of ultimate success, there would not appear to be any likelihood of its materialising immediately. At the same time the prospects of the scheme, should it prove commercially and mechanically feasible, are so great that every endeavour should be made to have the matter investigated in the fullest detail by a strong technical and scientific Commission. As pointed out in NATURE of June 3 last, much stilt requires to be known on such questions as those regarding the effect of the proposed barrage on the silting of the estuary and on the general régime of the river, the best size and form of turbine and generator, the use of alternating- or direct-current generators and of geared or ungeared tur-bines the maximum economic capacity of the installation, and the volume of water actually available in the case of such an estuary as that of the Severn under operating conditions. All these are problems to which existing data are inadequate to enable a complete answer to be supplied, but to which such experience as is available, augmented by some special experimental investigations, should be adequate to give a definite answer. Tempting as the scheme may appear, it would be wise to suspend judgment as to its possibilities until the report of some such Commission as is suggested is available.