Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Second part - X. Manufacturing Industries. By Å. G. Ekstrand, Ph. D., Chief Engineer, Control Office of the Department of Finance - The Waterfalls of Sweden, by Lieut. Col. P. Laurell, Stockholm
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INTRODUCTION. 195
The Falls of Stora Sjöfallet in the Lule River.
In places where water-power can be turned to account in immediate
vicinity to its source, it is as a rule a more economical motor than steam. Hence,
even in the »Age of Steam», a large number of mills driven by water have been
established in our country, while others already in existence are still kept in work;
at present, it may be said that water and steam play approximately equal parts
in the industrial enterprise of Sweden as a whole.
The immediate vicinity of a waterfall, however, often presents an
unfavourable field for the erection of mechanical works, by reason of the absence of raw
materials in the district, of the great distance from a market for the disposal of
the finished articles, or from a variety of other causes. The grand discovery of
our times in this regard is, as well known, that water-power transformed into
electric energy, admits of being conveyed for considerable distances — up to some
tens of kilometers and more. It would be a further step in the desired direction,
if it were found that this energy could be stored in a satisfactory manner, in
transportable accumulators or by other means. Thus, the hope is perhaps justified
that, within a short time, it may prove possible to utilize the latent energy in
the Swedish waterfalls to a much greater extent than has hitherto been the case.
If the very large figure given above as representing the force and value of
Swedish waterfalls be remembered, it will be easily seen that the chances of the
country becoming in course of time a vast industrial center are by no means few
or remote.
An essential prelude to the realizing of the above-mentioned hopes in
connection with the waterfalls, is the regulating in a stable manner of the questions as
to the possessorship of these sources of latent power and wealth. As the case
till now has been, the uncertainties as to ownership have in most cases necessitated
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