0:00:03 > 0:00:05Good evening and welcome to The Genius Of Invention.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09Tonight from Drax, the largest power station in Britain!
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Every day, seven million of us rely on this place.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16The screen you're looking at, the lights in your house,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18the cup of tea in your hand
0:00:18 > 0:00:19none of that would be possible
0:00:19 > 0:00:22without what's happening right here, right now.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25And because of the enormous contribution
0:00:25 > 0:00:27made by a handful of brilliant minds
0:00:27 > 0:00:30who unlocked the key to power itself.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Tonight, we'll be celebrating Britain's amazing history of inventiveness,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37getting to grips with the very nature of the invention
0:00:37 > 0:00:39and taking a glimpse into the future.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Just what does it take to change the world?
0:00:57 > 0:00:58Hello, I'm Michael Mosley.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00In this series,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02we're exploring some of the greatest inventions in history
0:01:02 > 0:01:04and the geniuses behind them.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08I'm joined by industrial archaeologist Dr Cassie Newland.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11- Nerdy but nice.- Hello!
0:01:11 > 0:01:15- And colourful Professor of Engineering Mark Miodownik.- Hello.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18We three will be uncovering the story of invention,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21from the Industrial Revolution to the present day.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24From conquering power to the transport revolution,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27telecommunication and the moving image.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Tonight, we are concentrating on power -
0:01:30 > 0:01:34how we learned to produce it, control it and consume it!
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Until a few centuries ago,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41we had to rely on wind, water or muscle for power.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44Then, we learned to make our own.
0:01:44 > 0:01:45From the steam engine
0:01:45 > 0:01:48to the electrical generator
0:01:48 > 0:01:50and finally, the steam turbine.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Tonight's inventions represent pivotal moments
0:01:53 > 0:01:56in our growing love affair with power.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59From a machine that could replace six horses
0:01:59 > 0:02:01to today's vast power stations
0:02:01 > 0:02:05that do the work of six million horses.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08300 years ago, a blacksmith from Devon
0:02:08 > 0:02:12built the first practical working steam engine.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15I'll be looking at why the story of steam
0:02:15 > 0:02:17is the story of invention itself.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22This allowed Watt to build steam engines that were more powerful
0:02:22 > 0:02:24than anything that had been seen before.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29This drove the Industrial Revolution and made Britain rich.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33A century later, the brilliant Michael Faraday
0:02:33 > 0:02:36uncovered the mysteries of electromagnetism.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39The age of electricity had arrived.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Power was separated from its source and free to travel everywhere.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46But what's happening is quite amazing - the light is lighting up.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49And that means electricity is being generated in the coil.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54What Faraday had created here is the world's first electricity generator.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Now, we had power, but we wanted more!
0:02:58 > 0:03:01The aristocratic Charles Algernon Parsons
0:03:01 > 0:03:04discovered how to produce it in huge quantities.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06We still rely on his compound turbine.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Cassie will be finding out
0:03:09 > 0:03:11how these three inventions are crucial
0:03:11 > 0:03:13to the way we generate power today,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16here, at Britain's biggest power station.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19This is the turbine hall at Drax,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22where they actually generate the electricity
0:03:22 > 0:03:26on a scale far greater than Faraday's lab equipment
0:03:26 > 0:03:28but the principle is exactly the same.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38All the inventions we are looking at tonight are about finding ways
0:03:38 > 0:03:42to put energy in and get useful energy out in the form of work.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46That is what power is and that's why we are here at Drax,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49where they do it on a truly gigantic scale.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Now, this is the maintenance store
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and in here, there are just enormous bits of metal
0:03:54 > 0:03:58because these bits form the guts of a power station.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02And, as I said, everything here is huge, including Andy who runs it.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04- Hi, Andy.- Hi.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07What sort of stuff have you got here? What's this, for example?
0:04:07 > 0:04:09Basically, this is one of our main steam valves
0:04:09 > 0:04:12that admits steam into our turbine
0:04:12 > 0:04:14and it has to do it accurately
0:04:14 > 0:04:18so that we can maintain a shaft speed of 3,000 rpm.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21OK, because I'm used to heart valves and they are about this size,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23- so this is a good million times bigger.- Sure, yeah.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26- But it does much the same thing, yeah?- Absolutely.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29And these, I guess, are nuts and bolts Drax style, aren't they?
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Yeah, yeah, a typical turbine bolt, basically.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35HE LAUGHS
0:04:35 > 0:04:37That's a good thousand times heavier
0:04:37 > 0:04:39than anything I've handled before.
0:04:39 > 0:04:40Oh, wow!
0:04:40 > 0:04:42And this is just for holding bits together?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Yes, a nut that fits round the fastener. Yeah.
0:04:45 > 0:04:46Thank you, Andy.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Now, everything here at Drax has to be so huge,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52because they generate such vast amounts of power.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54But how do our three inventions fit in?
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- Hi, Cassie.- Hiya!- What have you been finding out, then?
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Well, I'm going to take it right from the top,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02from the beginning, from our very first invention of the night -
0:05:02 > 0:05:04the steam engine, the first time
0:05:04 > 0:05:06anyone takes heat energy
0:05:06 > 0:05:09and turns it into usable useful power.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14Now, you might not know this, but 75% of power stations worldwide,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18including nuclear ones, use steam to generate electricity.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20So to create steam, you need to heat water,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23which means you need a primary source of power
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and just as with steam engines 300 years ago,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30here, at Drax, that primary source of power is coal.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31Take a look at this.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Drax uses so much coal that it has its very own railway.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44Each day, 30 trains bring in over a thousand tonnes.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47And every year, Drax burns an astonishing ten million tonnes.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Once the coal is unloaded, it comes here the pulverisers.
0:05:54 > 0:05:5860 grinding machines, each containing ten giant metal balls
0:05:58 > 0:06:02that pulverise the coal to a fine combustible powder.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08All that coal provides the energy to heat the water in six giant boilers,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11each the height of a 15-storey building.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16'The temperature inside is 568 degrees.'
0:06:16 > 0:06:17Wow!
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Drax has to be so big
0:06:22 > 0:06:26to provide the enormous amounts of power we demand every day.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29But the way it makes that power is rooted in the past.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36The world's first ever practical power source, the steam engine,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39burned coal to make steam to provide work energy.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42And, 300 years later, Drax is still doing that.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47The pictures are very impressive, but what was it actually like being there?
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Oh, it's violently noisy!
0:06:51 > 0:06:53The whole place is covered with a fine powder of coal dust
0:06:53 > 0:06:56and you're like a hamster in one of those space-age cages -
0:06:56 > 0:06:58it's all mesh floors and ladders.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And vast! It's not a building,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03it's like a machine with a hat on.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06But that's only half of it - look at this place.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09This is the turbine hall
0:07:09 > 0:07:13and, in here, you can really see how a long history of British invention
0:07:13 > 0:07:16still informs the way we generate power today.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Steam comes from the boilers and feeds six giant turbines,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26all based on Charles Parsons' original invention of 1884.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32These, in turn, power six electrical generators,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36based on the discoveries of Michael Faraday.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41It's here that heat energy is finally converted to work energy usable power.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Enough to create electricity for six million homes,
0:07:45 > 0:07:4824 hours a day, seven days a week.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51The thing that strikes me
0:07:51 > 0:07:54is that, although this is all incredibly modern,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56it clearly has its roots in the past.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Yeah. I mean, the principles are exactly the same,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01it's just vastly scaled up. It's an amazing place.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05It is and what's really impressive is not just the physical environment,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07but the ideas that underpin it.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11After all, humans had to dream up everything that is around us
0:08:11 > 0:08:14and, throughout tonight's show, we are going to be tracing
0:08:14 > 0:08:16how, together, our inventions made it possible.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18And it all started about 300 years ago,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22when we finally cracked the mystery of power itself.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Mark is going to introduce us
0:08:24 > 0:08:27to the universal forces that we used to do it.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33This is a working model of the first ever steam engine.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34The engine that changed the world
0:08:34 > 0:08:37and, quite rightly, the first invention in our series.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Now, in the 18th and 19th century,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41when people were thinking about using steam,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45they thought, "Well, just get a lot of steam and get it to rotate something."
0:08:45 > 0:08:49But when that's metal and heavy - you had to have very high pressure.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51But, when they tried working on those principles,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55what they found is that when you get a very high-pressure steam, it blows everything up.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59They didn't have the materials to make it work and people died left, right and centre.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03So that was a dead end and they didn't really know where to go forward
0:09:03 > 0:09:05until there was a bit of genius.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10The first ever practical engine was powered by steam,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13but not in the way you might expect.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15It uses steam the wrong way.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18When you heat water,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20it turns from a liquid into a vapour,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22which will expand
0:09:22 > 0:09:24to replace the air in a vessel.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26But if you seal that vessel
0:09:26 > 0:09:28and add cold water to condense the steam,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31it will return to liquid form
0:09:31 > 0:09:33and leave behind a vacuum.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37What happens next is the force behind all early steam engines.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I want to show you a demo
0:09:42 > 0:09:45- showing how using steam the wrong way was actually the right way.- OK.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48This is a normal oil drum
0:09:48 > 0:09:50and we filled it with steam. And I'm going to destroy it
0:09:50 > 0:09:53to show you the principle behind the steam engine.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56I have read about this but I've never seen it before.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57Is going to be dangerous?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00It's moderately dangerous for the drum at least,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02but for us, it should be fine.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05We've got steam in here but, though it's coming out at quite a rate there,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08inside here is the pressure around us, it's the same pressure as air.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11But that isn't such an unappreciable pressure.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13You've got a sky full of air on your shoulders.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16That's like having a tonne pushing down on you.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20Why when you've got a tonne of weight hanging on your shoulders, don't you crush?
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Yeah, OK. Well, that's true.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25But it's also in your lungs pushing out, it's also around you pushing up.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29So you've got it from all directions and so it all equilibrates out.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30Now, what we're going to try is say,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33if you've got the pressure of the steam inside and the air outside,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36what if you mess around with that equilibrium,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38how much force does that generate?
0:10:38 > 0:10:40That is a lot, presumably.
0:10:40 > 0:10:41A lot!
0:10:41 > 0:10:45- Now, your job is to turn off the steam.- OK.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47And, Cassie, your job is to turn on a spray of water
0:10:47 > 0:10:49- which is going to cool the steam.- OK.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51And my job is to direct you from over here.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54From way back there, OK... Have you ever done this before?
0:10:54 > 0:10:57I've done this before, but on a small scale, on a tin can
0:10:57 > 0:10:59and it works beautifully.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00How quickly?
0:11:00 > 0:11:04- In quick succession. OK, ready?- Yeah.- GO!
0:11:04 > 0:11:05THEY CHUCKLE
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Right.
0:11:07 > 0:11:08SHE YELLS
0:11:08 > 0:11:12THEY LAUGH
0:11:14 > 0:11:15That was good!
0:11:15 > 0:11:17It made a really big noise.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20- That was very, very good. Well done!- It was!- Brilliant!
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Oh, my goodness!
0:11:22 > 0:11:23THEY LAUGH
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Now, that is absolutely astonishing.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28I really wasn't expecting the force to be that great
0:11:28 > 0:11:31it just crumpled this steel as if it was just a toy.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33And that's atmospheric pressure?
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Yeah, this is just the pressure of the room crumpling in,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38so we created a vacuum in there by putting the steam in there,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42then turning off the valve and then Cassie spurted some water in there
0:11:42 > 0:11:44and that condensed the steam, creating a vacuum
0:11:44 > 0:11:46and the rest of the room did the rest. Incredible.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47SHE LAUGHS
0:11:47 > 0:11:50That demonstrates it's exactly the same force
0:11:50 > 0:11:53that was harnessed in the first steam engine.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Now, its full name was the Atmospheric Steam Engine
0:11:55 > 0:11:59and it was invented in 1712 by a blacksmith from Dartmouth
0:11:59 > 0:12:01called Thomas Newcomen.
0:12:04 > 0:12:05For thousands of years,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09people had looked for a reliable source of power
0:12:09 > 0:12:13and this giant machine is the engine that finally cracked it.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16All it needed was heat from coal,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19which created steam,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21which condensed to leave a vacuum
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and the weight of the atmosphere did the rest.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28Finally, we had a mechanical process
0:12:28 > 0:12:32where you could put energy in and get work out.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34The world was about to change more in the next 200 years
0:12:34 > 0:12:37than it had in the previous thousand.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40But not initially that fast.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Now, you might imagine
0:12:43 > 0:12:46that once somebody had designed and built a working steam engine
0:12:46 > 0:12:49that lots of other people would come in, tinker, try and improve it
0:12:49 > 0:12:53and, in fact, dream up all sorts of other uses for it.
0:12:53 > 0:12:54But, for over 50 years,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58there was only one type of steam engine in the world
0:12:58 > 0:13:03and it did one deeply unglamorous, albeit useful, thing -
0:13:03 > 0:13:05pumping water out of mines.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09They say necessity is the mother of invention
0:13:09 > 0:13:11and, in the case of the steam engine,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15necessity wasn't some grand dream of bringing power to the world,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18it was the result of a simple economic desire
0:13:18 > 0:13:22to extract coal and ores from deeper and deeper mines.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25To do that, they needed a really good pump.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28I must admit I have never been down a mine
0:13:28 > 0:13:31as wet as this.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33It's literally pouring out of the ceiling.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34How deep are we at the moment?
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Uh... We must be about 100-150 feet now.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40And when you get down further, you get more water?
0:13:40 > 0:13:41You get more and more water, yes.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45You can absolutely see the problem they had. What did they do about it?
0:13:45 > 0:13:49They actually had to bail it out or wind it out,
0:13:49 > 0:13:51so a very labour-intensive process.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58But manpower and horses could not drain all this water fast enough.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Enter local blacksmith Thomas Newcomen.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03You may not have heard of him
0:14:03 > 0:14:06and there are no existing pictures,
0:14:06 > 0:14:11yet he built the world's first practical steam engine.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13I just find it unbelievable
0:14:13 > 0:14:17that somebody goes from appreciating that there is this stuff, atmospheric pressure,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20to actually building a machine that can utilise it.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24It was an amazing step, no doubt about that.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28There were people before him that...sort of paved the way,
0:14:28 > 0:14:32but it was getting the engineering expertise,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36being able to rivet things and join things together comfortably,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39which, really, Newcomen did.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41The water was such a problem
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and when he came up with his atmospheric engine,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46everyone was extremely happy.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I guess they made it possible to go deeper
0:14:49 > 0:14:52and, therefore, make the Cornish a bit richer for a bit longer.
0:14:52 > 0:14:53Very much so, yes.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57The better the engines got, the deeper the Cornish could go.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Newcomen saw first-hand the problems in the tin mines of Cornwall,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05but he knew nationally there was an even bigger market.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11His first engine was installed at a coal mine near Birmingham in 1712.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13It completed 12 strokes a minute,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16each stroke lifting ten gallons of water.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Within 20 years, over 100 of his engines had been installed
0:15:20 > 0:15:23at mines all over the country.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Now, the Newcomen engine allowed miners
0:15:26 > 0:15:29to go deeper and deeper underground,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32but the trouble was it was monstrously inefficient -
0:15:32 > 0:15:34it consumed a huge amount of coal.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38And coal was very difficult and expensive to transport.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40It transformed the mining industry,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43but it was never going to power an industrial revolution.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49The story of how the Atmospheric Steam Engine
0:15:49 > 0:15:51came to drive a revolution
0:15:51 > 0:15:54is the story of inventiveness itself
0:15:54 > 0:15:58a profound desire to make things work better.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02The atmospheric engine was nothing like anything that had come before.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06And Newcomen's version of it reigned supreme for decades.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10When it was replaced, it was by an innovation that was so radical
0:16:10 > 0:16:13it was almost like a completely different machine.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18And the man behind this innovation was James Gaius Watt.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23In 1763, James Watt,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26a mechanical instrument maker in Glasgow,
0:16:26 > 0:16:31was asked to repair a model of the by now world-famous Newcomen engine
0:16:31 > 0:16:34that was being used in the university to instruct students.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38He first thought of it as just a model,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41almost like a plaything toy.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46But, gradually, by investigating the different elements of it in more and more detail,
0:16:46 > 0:16:52taking it apart, creating alternatives to the various aspects of the model,
0:16:52 > 0:16:57he began almost to think of it as a kind of scientific experiment,
0:16:57 > 0:16:59a composite scientific experiment.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Something that could perhaps be developed
0:17:02 > 0:17:05in order to create power from steam in a better way.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08We have Watt as part of a strident,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12quite severe Scottish Presbyterian culture,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14so, for example, coal was something
0:17:14 > 0:17:18that had been provided by God for man's use
0:17:18 > 0:17:22and it was up to humanity to make the best of that.
0:17:22 > 0:17:28So burning it fruitlessly was considered to be a waste
0:17:28 > 0:17:30of something which had been divinely given,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34and, therefore, morally abhorrent as well as economically inadvisable.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40This drive to make the engine more efficient obsessed Watt.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Finally, in 1765, he had a simple, but brilliant idea.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Now, this is an extract from a letter he wrote
0:17:51 > 0:17:54describing his eureka moment.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56"I was thinking upon the engine at the time,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59"and had gone as far as the Herd's house,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02"when the idea came into my mind that if a communication were made
0:18:02 > 0:18:05"between the cylinder and an exhausted vessel,
0:18:05 > 0:18:07"steam would rush into it,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11"and might be there condensed without cooling the cylinder."
0:18:11 > 0:18:12I like this bit.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14"I had not walked further than the golf house
0:18:14 > 0:18:17"when the whole thing was arranged in my mind."
0:18:17 > 0:18:19It was as easy as that.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27With the idea burning brightly in his mind,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Watt went off and had this made
0:18:30 > 0:18:32it's a separate condenser
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and this is actually the first, the original.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37Now, this allowed Watt
0:18:37 > 0:18:41to build steam engines that were more powerful, more efficient,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44more portable than anything that had been seen before.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46This allowed Watt to unleash power
0:18:46 > 0:18:49in a way that was previously unimaginable.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52THIS drove the Industrial Revolution
0:18:52 > 0:18:54and made Britain rich.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Mark, I really enjoyed holding Watt's condenser,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01just because it was a piece of history,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03but I'm not utterly convinced in the cold light of day
0:19:03 > 0:19:05I know how it works.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Talk me through it.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11It might be helpful to talk about what Watt was trying to improve,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13which is the Newcomen engine, this is a working model of that.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16And here is the heat, the boiler,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19so you get steam that comes out through here,
0:19:19 > 0:19:20it goes into the cylinder
0:19:20 > 0:19:22and this is the bit like the oil barrel,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26this is where the steam is going to be condensed by cold water
0:19:26 > 0:19:29and it's going to pull down a piston.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32And that piston pulls this down, which pulls this up.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36And this, over here, can be water in a mine which you pump out.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39- So you do work, and it works!- OK, OK.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41So the key bit is what's happening in there?
0:19:41 > 0:19:43That is the crucial bit
0:19:43 > 0:19:45and, in fact, we've got a mock-up of it over here,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47so you can actually see what's going on.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49So, you know, the steam has to come from the boiler,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51so if this is the boiler and that's steam,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55- you can put some steam into the cylinder. Do you want to have a go? - Certainly.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57So I just whack this button down here? Excellent.
0:19:57 > 0:19:58Yeah, steam coming into it.
0:19:58 > 0:19:59All very nice.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01All we now need to do is condense it
0:20:01 > 0:20:05so I now open the vent for the water pressure.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08Yes!
0:20:08 > 0:20:10OK, that's neat.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13And that's being dragged down by the atmospheric pressure?
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Exactly, the atmospheric pressure in this room is pushing that down,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18because we created a vacuum by condensing the steam.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20- Right.- But that means, of course,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23that you have to heat and cool this one cylinder, which is inefficient.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25And Watt looked at that and he thought,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28"Mmm, I can do better, I can improve that."
0:20:28 > 0:20:30And that really is the hallmark of an engineer,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33someone who doesn't just say, "Oh, it works, I can make some money out if it."
0:20:33 > 0:20:37But who thinks, "Mmm, I can do it a bit better than that. I have an idea."
0:20:37 > 0:20:39And that is where the separate condenser comes in.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42If you get the steam out and condense it in a separate vessel,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45you don't have to keep heating and cooling this one
0:20:45 > 0:20:48- and that saves you, it turns out, a hell of a lot of energy.- Right.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51An obsession with efficiency is still at the heart of invention.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Cassie has been exploring Drax
0:20:53 > 0:20:55to find out why it is the single most important factor
0:20:55 > 0:20:57when it comes to making power.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05This is the enormous coalfield at Drax.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coal are stored here
0:21:09 > 0:21:11to make sure the station never runs out.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15And this machine over here has a really important job to do -
0:21:15 > 0:21:17it compacts the coal in the coalfield
0:21:17 > 0:21:19to make sure it doesn't just spontaneously combust.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29Now, when you are talking about the enormous amounts used at Drax,
0:21:29 > 0:21:34a 1% improvement in efficiency is actually 100,000 tonnes of coal a year.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38- Now, I'm joined by Peter Emery. He's Production Director at Drax.- Hi.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Peter, how important is efficiency here?
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Efficiency drives everything we do on site.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47We grind the coal so it's very, very small, almost like a powder
0:21:47 > 0:21:50and that gives us 100% combustion.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Another good example is the cold water coming in the boiler
0:21:53 > 0:21:56is also heated up with a bit of steam
0:21:56 > 0:21:58that's bled off from the turbines.
0:21:58 > 0:21:59Again, an efficient use of the heat.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02So the water going in is already warm
0:22:02 > 0:22:04before it gets into the furnace.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Now, I understand you've recently put new turbines in?
0:22:06 > 0:22:08It's a £100 million project,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12but it saves us just under 5% of our coal.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Now, 5% doesn't sound like much.
0:22:14 > 0:22:15No, 5% might not sound a lot,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19but in an operation this size, every percentage counts.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22We're working 24/7 and that 5% for us
0:22:22 > 0:22:24is 10,000 tonnes of coal every week,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26and 10,000 tonnes of coal every week
0:22:26 > 0:22:28is three-quarters of a million pounds.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- That's a lot! - That's a big deal.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Peter, thank you ever so much.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34- OK, nice to meet you.- See you soon.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41Now, efficiency is nothing new -
0:22:41 > 0:22:43it's the reason the Watt engine is so successful
0:22:43 > 0:22:46but it's Matthew Boulton, his business partner,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49who really understands the importance of it.
0:22:49 > 0:22:50He came up with a scheme
0:22:50 > 0:22:53where he would sell you an engine quite cheaply,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57but you would have to pay royalties on the efficiency savings you make.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02So if you imagine that this is the amount of coal that a Newcomen engine would use in a week,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05whereas this pile here is how much coal
0:23:05 > 0:23:08a Boulton and Watt's engine uses in the same period.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11That is a massive efficiency saving.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15So for every three pieces of coal you save,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20you have to pay Boulton and Watt one in royalties.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Now, by 1800, they had sold over 500 of their engines
0:23:24 > 0:23:26and they were very rich men indeed.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30So Boulton and Watt were pretty smart operators, weren't they?
0:23:30 > 0:23:35Yeah. One of the reasons they made so much money was they really understood the power of patents.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37This is a copy of the original patent
0:23:37 > 0:23:39for the Watt engine with a separate condenser.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41And they didn't just get a standard patent.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Boulton was pretty influential
0:23:43 > 0:23:45and he managed to get it extended right through to 1800.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Basically, any steam engine that used a separate condenser was protected by this patent,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51so if you didn't have that condenser,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53you'd use four times as much coal.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56So why would anyone buy a steam engine from you, if you were,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58you know, having to use four times much coal?
0:23:58 > 0:24:01So they pretty much controlled all of the steam power at that time.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04So that's one of the significant downsides, presumably?
0:24:04 > 0:24:06Yeah. I mean, the pros are
0:24:06 > 0:24:09that, you know, you did all that effort making your invention,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11so why shouldn't you benefit from it?
0:24:11 > 0:24:13And that seems totally fair.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17The cons are, well, while you've got a monopoly over the technology,
0:24:17 > 0:24:18no-one else is going to innovate.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21And in this case, it was particularly problematic,
0:24:21 > 0:24:23because, from 1786 to 1800,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26there were no significant improvements in steam technology at all.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30And so, basically, innovation stopped.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34OK, well, Watt's patent may have stifled innovation in the steam engine,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37but it certainly led to a period of intense innovation
0:24:37 > 0:24:40in new technology that developed around it.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Power was now available in a way it had never been before
0:24:43 > 0:24:45and it inspired a generation of inventors.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Now, Cassie has been to Lancashire to find out
0:24:48 > 0:24:51how the ability to put a steam engine almost anywhere
0:24:51 > 0:24:53transformed an entire way of life.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Newcomen's engine used so much coal
0:24:58 > 0:25:00it was only really cost-effective at a coal mine.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03But once Watt started improving his engine,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05making it much more efficient
0:25:05 > 0:25:07and increasing the type of work it could do,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10it was poised to radicalise industry.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Now, for the first time, we could use it to power OTHER machines.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20This is Queen Street Mill, in Burnley.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23It's home to over 300 power looms
0:25:23 > 0:25:25and it's one of the first factories in the world.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33They may seem noisy and antiquated
0:25:33 > 0:25:34but, in the 19th century,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37these machines powered a revolution in Lancashire,
0:25:37 > 0:25:42transforming it into one of the greatest industrial centres on the planet.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Until the late 18th century, weaving was a cottage industry.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Men, women and children, all working from home
0:25:50 > 0:25:53or in small groups using hand-powered equipment.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56All that changed with the advent of powered machinery.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00Huge numbers of machines could be tethered to the same engine.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03Power had finally brought us industrialisation.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07- SHOUTING ABOVE MACHINE NOISE: - What part of the handloom weavers' actions
0:26:07 > 0:26:08are taken over by the machines?
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Well, basically everything they would have done by hand.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15The passing of the shuttle through the warp,
0:26:15 > 0:26:16the operation of the heddles.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21- Right.- The treadles on the floor, so all that's taken away.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24And is there just one machine or was one weaver doing a lot?
0:26:24 > 0:26:27One weaver would look after between six and eight looms.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Right, can I have a go?
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Yes, if you feel confident, you certainly can.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37People were no longer the providers of energy.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Instead, they now operated the machines
0:26:39 > 0:26:41that could do it far more efficiently.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48By 1860, Lancashire produced half the cotton in the world.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50But the steam engine did more
0:26:50 > 0:26:53than just boost profits and increase production.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56For the first time, it took work outside of the family home.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59It effectively invented the job.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03So what are conditions like for the handloom weavers
0:27:03 > 0:27:04arriving in these factories?
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Women and children who'd worked together before,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09but as family units in the factory,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12become just parts of a labour force.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Also, there's a much greater division of labour,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19so the whole of the work process becomes routinised.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23On a wider scale, steam must have brought more benefits?
0:27:23 > 0:27:27All the products that are pouring out of these factories are cheaper
0:27:27 > 0:27:29and working people can afford to buy them.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32And, of course, all the time, their pay does go up
0:27:32 > 0:27:34and there's regular work as well
0:27:34 > 0:27:37and people are able to buy all kinds of new products.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42The wider impact of steam power is that it powers a factory system
0:27:42 > 0:27:45that is delivering cheaper products
0:27:45 > 0:27:47that can be sold all around the world.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50By 1870, Britain is the richest, most powerful country
0:27:50 > 0:27:52the world has ever known.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53The workshop of the world.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00Britain's worldwide success was thanks to its heroes of invention.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05For all the early hardships, steam still leaves us a lasting legacy.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08From the genius of Watt's steam condenser,
0:28:08 > 0:28:12we get engines which not only drive an industrial revolution
0:28:12 > 0:28:13but a social revolution too.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18With me is Professor Christine MacLeod,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21author of Heroes Of Invention.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25So Christine, why do some people like Watt become heroes?
0:28:25 > 0:28:28It's largely thanks to the Victorians that inventors became heroes,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31because, until round about 1820,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34inventors were generally seen in quite a bad light.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37- Really?- Yes! In fact, in the 17th century,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39an inventor was very much seen
0:28:39 > 0:28:43in the company of cutpurses and pick-pockets,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46as somebody who'd come along with a big idea and steal your money
0:28:46 > 0:28:48and ask to invest in it.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50So it's really a huge turnaround
0:28:50 > 0:28:53that inventors become heroes in the 19th century
0:28:53 > 0:28:55and the first one to do so was James Watt.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58Really? I didn't realise. He's the first kind of hero of modern times?
0:28:58 > 0:29:00- Well, he's the first hero of invention.- Yeah.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04And he becomes a hero thanks to his supporters,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07who were some personal supporters, his family and his friends,
0:29:07 > 0:29:11but also thanks to a lot of politicians and scientists
0:29:11 > 0:29:14who, in the 1820s, decided that he'd make a very good hero
0:29:14 > 0:29:16for the new middle classes
0:29:16 > 0:29:20and he was set up as a hero against the great military heroes
0:29:20 > 0:29:22who'd just won the Napoleonic Wars,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25obviously Nelson and Wellington.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27And, at this time,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31a lot of middle-class people were campaigning for the vote
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and it looked as though they'd taken a big step backwards
0:29:34 > 0:29:39with the Napoleonic Wars because Nelson and Wellington were now seen
0:29:39 > 0:29:43- as these great military heroes, great aristocratic heroes.- Ah...
0:29:43 > 0:29:45- And so...- So if Watt had been an aristocrat,
0:29:45 > 0:29:49they would have probably not been pushing him quite so enthusiastically?
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Well, it's the fact that they're now developing a new explanation
0:29:52 > 0:29:54of what made Great Britain great.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57And they want to say it isn't that we were great soldiers,
0:29:57 > 0:30:00it's not that we were so successful on the battlefield,
0:30:00 > 0:30:05but it's that we had the industry that paid for these great battles.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10So Watt is then cast as the great hero who invented the steam engine
0:30:10 > 0:30:12and they forget about Newcomen
0:30:12 > 0:30:15- and all the people that have gone before.- Thank you, Christine.
0:30:15 > 0:30:20Now, no-one these days can underestimate the importance of the steam engine in changing the world,
0:30:20 > 0:30:21but it has its limits.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25If power was going to become more accessible to all of us,
0:30:25 > 0:30:26not just industrial factories,
0:30:26 > 0:30:28we needed to find a way
0:30:28 > 0:30:31to separate the engine from where the power is used.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34Now, I don't want a steam engine in my basement
0:30:34 > 0:30:37and that is what electricity has given us.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41But first, we needed a genius of invention to tame it.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Newcomen and Watt were both engineers.
0:30:47 > 0:30:48They achieved incredible things
0:30:48 > 0:30:50because they understood machinery -
0:30:50 > 0:30:54how to make large pieces of metal move and create work.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58Our next inventor couldn't be more different.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00His speciality was pure science
0:31:00 > 0:31:03and he was about to uncover the mysteries of a universal force
0:31:03 > 0:31:06that would radicalise our relationship with power.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10I'm at the Royal Institution, in London
0:31:10 > 0:31:14and this is its most celebrated member - Michael Faraday.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17In the 1820s,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20he carried out a series of revolutionary experiments here.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24It was around this time that he started experimenting
0:31:24 > 0:31:27in the area that would define his career - electricity.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33But just as Watt had been inspired by Newcomen's ground-breaking work,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Faraday's incredible discoveries could never have happened
0:31:36 > 0:31:37without the work of others.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41This is the world's first battery
0:31:41 > 0:31:45and it was invented by Alessandro Giuseppe Volta, in 1800.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49This is a model of the original battery
0:31:49 > 0:31:54and it consists of discs of copper and zinc alternately spaced,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58separated by paper which has been dipped in acid.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02And we've assembled some of these alternate plates here.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05And If I put this top plate on of zinc,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08it should produce an electric current because of the reaction
0:32:08 > 0:32:10between the metals and the acid.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12And that we've wired up to this little electric hamster,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14and that hamster should go.
0:32:14 > 0:32:15If all goes to plan.
0:32:15 > 0:32:16HE CHUCKLES
0:32:16 > 0:32:18It stuttered along.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20And that was the problem with these early batteries.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24The power only lasted for as long as the reaction was sustained.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29Across Europe, scientists were experimenting with Volta's battery
0:32:29 > 0:32:36and, in 1821, Hans Christian Oersted uncovered some very unusual behaviour.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38While preparing for a lecture,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41Oersted noticed that when he connected a copper wire to a battery
0:32:41 > 0:32:45and held it near a compass, the needle moves.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47That may not seem much now,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49but that's the beginning of electromagnetism.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54The first demonstration that electricity and magnetism can create motion.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Faraday used these two critical discoveries
0:32:58 > 0:33:01to tap into the universe's very own power system.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Here, in his workshop, at the Royal Institution,
0:33:06 > 0:33:11Faraday showed that electricity, magnetism and motion are all firmly linked.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Just a year after Oersted's discovery, Faraday designed this.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20There's a wire that goes into a pool of mercury
0:33:20 > 0:33:21to which a magnet's attached.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Now, when you pass a current through that wire watch what happens.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Believe it or not, this is the world's first electric motor.
0:33:32 > 0:33:33Ten years passed
0:33:33 > 0:33:37and, with proof that magnetism and electricity could drive motion,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Faraday made an incredible intellectual leap.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46If electricity and magnetism can create motion, Faraday thought,
0:33:46 > 0:33:48could the reverse be true?
0:33:48 > 0:33:53Could motion and magnetism create electricity?
0:33:53 > 0:33:58Well, he answered that emphatically with this rudimentary device.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00This pole in the middle is a magnet.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03And there's a tube here in which he's wrapped round copper wire
0:34:03 > 0:34:05and covered it with cloth.
0:34:05 > 0:34:06And attached two small lights.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10Now, watch what happens when I move the coil though the magnetic field.
0:34:10 > 0:34:11HE LAUGHS
0:34:11 > 0:34:14I know it looks ridiculous, but what's happening is quite amazing -
0:34:14 > 0:34:16the light is lighting up!
0:34:16 > 0:34:18And that means electricity is being generated in the coil
0:34:18 > 0:34:21by just moving through the magnetic field.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25What Faraday had created here is the world's first electricity generator.
0:34:27 > 0:34:32Where work was once created by physical force of cylinders, gears and pistons,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34now all we had to do was move a magnet.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39And from that process, out flowed the incredible force of electricity.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44And while we owe a huge debt to Faraday and his eureka moment,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47spare a thought for Volta and Oersted,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50without whose building blocks we might be living in a very different world now.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54They did for Faraday what Thomas Newcomen did for James Watt -
0:34:54 > 0:34:58provided the foundation for some truly genius inventions.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Faraday went on to discover some of the most important laws about the universe,
0:35:05 > 0:35:09which show the relationship between electricity, motion and magnetism.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11Basically, he worked out that if you have a big coil
0:35:11 > 0:35:15and you rotate it very fast, you get a lot of electricity.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18But this machine, Michael, is going to show us that, actually,
0:35:18 > 0:35:20that isn't so straightforward.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Here is his dynamo,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26so this is a coil with...so you're going to generate electricity from it.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28And we've rigged it up to some bulbs. And you're lighting up one?
0:35:28 > 0:35:31- Can you light up two?- I think I can.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33Oh-hoo! OK!
0:35:33 > 0:35:35And do you feel strong enough to light up three?
0:35:35 > 0:35:38It's actually getting surprisingly hard.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42So you can feel... That's what extraordinary, isn't it? And four?
0:35:42 > 0:35:45- Right.- So there's actually communication going back and forth.
0:35:45 > 0:35:46That's good, keep that up. Nice one!
0:35:46 > 0:35:50I am just going to read my book at night while I'm trying to learn something and...
0:35:50 > 0:35:53This is surprisingly hard work!
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Could you just keep going for a bit, because I've just got a few more pages to get through.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00I can't help feeling I would probably be doing better if I was cycling.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04I'm finding it very hard to concentrate with you shouting like that, I have to say.
0:36:04 > 0:36:05I can keep it up for hours.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07It's really difficult, isn't it?
0:36:07 > 0:36:11You are displaying a third of a horse power. Of course, not using your legs but your arms.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13HE LAUGHS
0:36:13 > 0:36:16What's incredible about Faraday's dynamo
0:36:16 > 0:36:20is that you turn rotation, you turn effort into two wires
0:36:20 > 0:36:23that just give you power which you can do anything you want with.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27These don't have to be right next to it, they can be 100 miles away.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31He really makes electricity a thing that everybody can use.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33THEY LAUGH
0:36:33 > 0:36:37I am knackered. I can completely understand now why,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40if you want to produce an awful lot of electricity,
0:36:40 > 0:36:42you're going to need something which is a lot stronger
0:36:42 > 0:36:45and moves a lot faster than I can.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57This is the turbine hall at Drax,
0:36:57 > 0:36:59where they actually generate the electricity.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03It's incredibly noisy!
0:37:03 > 0:37:06Under this blue cover is an electrical generator
0:37:06 > 0:37:08and you can see five others stretching down the hall behind me.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11Now, these beasts are on a scale far greater
0:37:11 > 0:37:14than Faraday's lab equipment,
0:37:14 > 0:37:16but the principle is exactly the same.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22A generator doesn't CREATE electricity.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26It uses the mechanical energy supplied to it to INDUCE it.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28As the magnet spins,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31it forces negatively charged electrons in the copper
0:37:31 > 0:37:35to move into a flow that can be harnessed an electric current.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41This is Sean. He's the maintenance manager for the whole of Drax.
0:37:41 > 0:37:42So no pressure there, then.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45He's brought me to this shed, which is crammed full
0:37:45 > 0:37:47with this massive piece of equipment. What exactly is it?
0:37:47 > 0:37:51This is a stator, which is one half of the machine that generates the electricity.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55- So this is what's under those blue covers in the turbine hall? - That's right, yes.- Excellent!
0:37:55 > 0:37:58This doesn't look like Faraday's invention. How different is it?
0:37:58 > 0:38:00It's very similar indeed.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02The only detailed difference is that with the Faraday model,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05the magnet was static and the generator rotated.
0:38:05 > 0:38:06In this case,
0:38:06 > 0:38:10the magnet spins and the conductor is static.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14So down the shaft were rotating magnets and all of these bits, the white stripy bits, presumably...
0:38:14 > 0:38:15This, this is the copper.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17So, basically, this is the conductor.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22The magnet spins around in this at 3,000 rpm, so 50 times per second,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24the magnet spinning around inside this machine.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27What kind of power does that generate?
0:38:27 > 0:38:29This is one of six units that we have
0:38:29 > 0:38:31and each unit generates 660 MW,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34which is enough to power one million homes.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Across all six units, we can generate enough electricity
0:38:37 > 0:38:39to supply Northern Ireland and Wales combined.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41- That is vast!- It's amazing.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45It's really hard to think that Faraday could ever have imagined
0:38:45 > 0:38:48his handheld equipment would end up as something as vast as this.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51So how did we get from Faraday's laboratory equipment
0:38:51 > 0:38:53to a power station like Drax?
0:38:55 > 0:39:01The ability to put energy in and get work out had transformed industry -
0:39:01 > 0:39:03we could have power whenever we wanted it
0:39:03 > 0:39:05as long as the engine came with it.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10But Faraday's experiments eventually made it possible
0:39:10 > 0:39:13to separate the power from the engine.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18Electricity can travel hundreds of miles from where it is first generated.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20Power can be released at the flick of a switch
0:39:20 > 0:39:25and using it in huge quantities has become part of our daily lives.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30But wind back the clock, 130 years to, say, the 1880s
0:39:30 > 0:39:32and it is a very different world.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37There are no slick electronic gadgets or big screens.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41So what on earth do the Victorians need electricity for?
0:39:43 > 0:39:48It all started in the rather unlikely surroundings of the Savoy Theatre.
0:39:48 > 0:39:53Going to the theatre in the 19th century was not a particularly enjoyable experience.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57Because the whole thing was lit by gas lamps it was hot,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00it was stuffy and it was incredibly smelly.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04On the 10th of October 1881,
0:40:04 > 0:40:06the audience came to see
0:40:06 > 0:40:10a new production of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera - Patience.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14It was a ground-breaking evening in more ways than one. Lights on!
0:40:15 > 0:40:18As the actors strode out on to the stage that evening,
0:40:18 > 0:40:22they were lit for the first time ever by electric power.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24The Savoy Theatre, in London,
0:40:24 > 0:40:26became the first public building in the world
0:40:26 > 0:40:29to fully exploit the wonders of electricity.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35The light bulb was invented by Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37This basic human need for light
0:40:37 > 0:40:41created the world's first electricity-hungry product.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Edison was a better businessman than Swan
0:40:45 > 0:40:47and he realised there was serious money to be made,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50not just from producing light bulbs
0:40:50 > 0:40:54but also selling the electricity needed to power the light bulbs.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57Now, the Savoy Theatre had its own generators,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00but this was hardly a practical solution for most people.
0:41:02 > 0:41:03Edison's brilliant idea
0:41:03 > 0:41:06was to remove the need for a personal generator
0:41:06 > 0:41:08and centralise the source of power.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12He proclaimed, "We will make electricity so cheap
0:41:12 > 0:41:15"that only the rich will burn candles."
0:41:15 > 0:41:17In 1882, Holborn Viaduct, in London,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21became the site of the world's first public power station.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26The Holborn Viaduct is currently having something of a makeover,
0:41:26 > 0:41:31but back in 1881, when they were putting in the power station,
0:41:31 > 0:41:32you would barely have noticed.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34They didn't have to dig up the roads,
0:41:34 > 0:41:38they just slung some cables along at rooftop height.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40And the generating plant itself,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45well, that was assembled in the basement of Edison's London office.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51Edison's power station owed a huge debt to both Watt and Faraday.
0:41:51 > 0:41:57A 125-horsepower steam engine drove a 27-ton generator called Jumbo.
0:41:57 > 0:42:03Finally, the work out had been separated from the energy in.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Domestic demand for power could now take off.
0:42:06 > 0:42:11It was a modest beginning and there were serious problems ahead,
0:42:11 > 0:42:15but the days of flickering gas light were clearly numbered
0:42:15 > 0:42:19and a golden age of electricity had begun.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26The bicycle is one of my favourite inventions of all time,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29but, for the purposes of this programme,
0:42:29 > 0:42:31I'm not actually riding on a bicycle, am I, Mark?
0:42:31 > 0:42:35No, we've been through this, Michael. It's a reciprocating engine.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38It's turning the up and down motion of your legs into rotary motion.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40And the first ever working version wasn't a bike,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43it was a type of steam engine invented by James Watt.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Watt is obviously most famous for his separate condenser,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49but it was his ability to produce rotary motion
0:42:49 > 0:42:51that he was most proud.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53Yeah, and rightly so,
0:42:53 > 0:42:56because rotary motion is incredibly useful and incredibly efficient.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59Being able to move things round and round instead of just up and down,
0:42:59 > 0:43:04it seems simple, but it's one of those important things in the history of power invention.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07So I'll expect you're wondering, what has this got to do with electricity generation?
0:43:07 > 0:43:10Well, the early versions of power stations,
0:43:10 > 0:43:11including the one at Holborn Viaduct,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13were powered by reciprocating engines -
0:43:13 > 0:43:17steam providing the power to make a piston go up and down
0:43:17 > 0:43:20and that would then convert it using gears into rotary motion.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23And that's what Watt made possible in 1781.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26This rotary motion would make the magnet spin inside the copper coils
0:43:26 > 0:43:28to produce the electricity.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31But, as we showed you before, you need to put in a lot of energy
0:43:31 > 0:43:33to get electricity out.
0:43:33 > 0:43:34Exactly, and that was the problem.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37The demand for electricity was increasing so fast
0:43:37 > 0:43:40and we needed to make a lot more of it.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47Faraday's electrical dynamo was a pioneering breakthrough,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50but it was limited by the engines that powered it.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52Early steam engines vibrated violently
0:43:52 > 0:43:54and broke down on an almost daily basis.
0:43:54 > 0:43:59It was clear that what was needed was a better, more reliable engine.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06In 1883, Charles Parsons was in charge of the electrical generators
0:44:06 > 0:44:08at Clarke, Chapman and Co.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Like every generator in the world,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13they were powered by a reciprocating steam engine -
0:44:13 > 0:44:17vertical motion converted into rotary motion.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21To Parsons, the inefficiencies of this two-step engine were obvious
0:44:21 > 0:44:23he wanted a one-step version.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Parsons knew it wouldn't be with a steam-driven piston engine.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30He needed a pure rotary motion
0:44:30 > 0:44:32without the vibration that would damage and shake
0:44:32 > 0:44:34the windows of the buildings surrounding
0:44:34 > 0:44:36he turned to the turbine.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42The essential theory of a turbine is thousands of years old.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46In a windmill, the energy of the wind works directly on the rotating parts
0:44:46 > 0:44:48to create useful mechanical work.
0:44:48 > 0:44:54Parsons' plan was to replace wind with high-pressure steam.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56He was going to blast steam at the turbine,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59causing it to rotate and spin an electrical dynamo.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02There was scope to produce a lot of power.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06Existing turbine designs were not powerful or fast enough
0:45:06 > 0:45:08to generate electricity.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11The obvious solution was to increase the amount of energy in,
0:45:11 > 0:45:16but the metals available couldn't withstand the increased force.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19So just adding more steam wasn't going to work.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22It took a genius of invention to think differently.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27This is Charles Parsons' original factory in Newcastle,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31now run by Siemens and they still make turbines here.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36So, Geoff, what did Parsons do?
0:45:36 > 0:45:37The energy that is available in steam
0:45:37 > 0:45:40is much higher than you have with windmill and air,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43so we had to somehow control the efficiency
0:45:43 > 0:45:46and control the stresses of the whole process.
0:45:46 > 0:45:51So what he did was, rather than just use a single set of blades,
0:45:51 > 0:45:53he decided, if you had more than one wheel,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56you could share the energy out between the two,
0:45:56 > 0:45:58and the process would be more efficient
0:45:58 > 0:46:00without the danger of overloading.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06'But there was a problem any additional blades don't spin.'
0:46:07 > 0:46:09So what actually happened was,
0:46:09 > 0:46:11as we put the air on to the first blades,
0:46:11 > 0:46:13it's certainly pushed those,
0:46:13 > 0:46:17but the air actually came out of the blade at the angle of the blade,
0:46:17 > 0:46:19edge on to the second wheel.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22So it wasn't able to push on the second wheel as well.
0:46:22 > 0:46:23So he invented the stator.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Parsons realised that you had to put something between the two wheels
0:46:27 > 0:46:32to make the air direction change so it approached the second wheel
0:46:32 > 0:46:35at the same angle as it approached the first.
0:46:35 > 0:46:36Yeah, let's see if it works.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40That's it!
0:46:40 > 0:46:42So now we've got the second wheel
0:46:42 > 0:46:44working just as well as the first wheel.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47What you've done is you've created a turbine now, not a windmill,
0:46:47 > 0:46:50and it's extracting energy.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53The simple idea of compounding rows of blades,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56each row designed to work with ever-decreasing pressures,
0:46:56 > 0:47:00meant Parsons' turbine was able to extract far more energy
0:47:00 > 0:47:02from the same volume of steam.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06But when it comes to generating electricity,
0:47:06 > 0:47:10if you want to make more, you have to go faster,
0:47:10 > 0:47:12and Parsons' next problem was speed.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18If we look at the blades on a real turbine,
0:47:18 > 0:47:20we're going to see it's very similar to our model,
0:47:20 > 0:47:22but the blades are now curved.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24And the gap between the blades, where the steam passes,
0:47:24 > 0:47:25is getting narrower.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29So to go through a narrow gap, the steam has to go at a higher speed.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31- I brought one of these along. - All right, OK!
0:47:31 > 0:47:34- If I blow with an open mouth...- Yes.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36..I can get it to go around a little bit.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39But if I just narrow my mouth, same lung capacity...
0:47:40 > 0:47:42So yeah, it goes around much faster,
0:47:42 > 0:47:44so that's the same as happening in the turbine blades.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47As the gap narrows, the speed of the steam goes faster.
0:47:47 > 0:47:48That's exactly right.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Nearly 130 years later,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54we're still making turbines using exactly the same principles.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00Before Parsons, power stations were operating under 500 revs per minute.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05His turbo generator could rotate at 4,800 revs per minute.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10Finally, we could produce far more electricity.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14He'd cracked it!
0:48:14 > 0:48:17In 1884, just a year after he started working on the problem,
0:48:17 > 0:48:20Parsons patented the compound turbine,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23and the first one was installed just up the road from here,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26lighting the streets and homes of Newcastle.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30He'd succeeded in creating a small, efficient, powerful rotary motion
0:48:30 > 0:48:31for the electrical dynamo,
0:48:31 > 0:48:33and it's that turbine design
0:48:33 > 0:48:37that's still in use today in power stations across the globe.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40And if you come with me now,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43you can see just how impressive turbines are.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45There's one over there, hanging up,
0:48:45 > 0:48:50looking like an enormous Christmas decoration in this huge space,
0:48:50 > 0:48:52which is just filled with turbines.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54- Hi, Andy!- Hi.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58It is beautiful, I have to say, it is enormous and gorgeous.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00- Are you in love with turbines? - Not exactly in love,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03but they are a marvellous piece of engineering, yes.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06It is fantastic, when you think this sprang out of the mind
0:49:06 > 0:49:09of a sort of 20-something-year-old so long ago.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11How fast does this spin?
0:49:11 > 0:49:15This spins at 3,000 rpm, 50 times a second.
0:49:15 > 0:49:16Oh, blimey! And how heavy is it?
0:49:16 > 0:49:19This particular one weighs 63 tonnes or thereabouts.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Right, and there's a metal casing here, is there?
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Yes, there's a metal casing that this all is housed in.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28Right, so presumably the risk is if you've got a metal housing here,
0:49:28 > 0:49:30this is going to hit it.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32Yes, yeah, that is our biggest concern,
0:49:32 > 0:49:36and obviously we take great care and attention to detail
0:49:36 > 0:49:39to make sure that these bits don't clash, basically, in service.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42Yes, imagine! What sort of clearance are you aiming at?
0:49:42 > 0:49:45- Roughly 40 thousandths of an inch. - That is close, isn't it?!
0:49:45 > 0:49:48Presumably if it hits the metal, then that's complete carnage.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51It is, it just strips the rotor, all the blades come off,
0:49:51 > 0:49:52and basically you're left with a mess.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54- Right, which has to be cleared up. - Yeah.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57But if you leave too much space, presumably it's inefficient.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00The steam tends to come round the outside of the blade,
0:50:00 > 0:50:02rather than through it, and the efficiency is affected.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05And the steam comes in there, spins all that around,
0:50:05 > 0:50:08and the giant magnet is on the end there.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10The giant coupling on the end turns the generator,
0:50:10 > 0:50:12which obviously in turn generates electricity.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14How much power does that generate?
0:50:14 > 0:50:17When the station is generating at full capacity,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19it's 4,000 megawatts,
0:50:19 > 0:50:23which is getting on towards six million horsepower, basically.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26Six million horsepower, so multiply by ten to get human power,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29and you're up near 60 million humans.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31This is doing the work of 60 million humans,
0:50:31 > 0:50:34the entire population of the UK on exercise bikes
0:50:34 > 0:50:38could perhaps produce as much power as your turbine.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40- It's phenomenal, isn't it? - It is, absolutely, yeah.
0:50:40 > 0:50:41Thank you, Andy.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45Now, the turbine is the last of our great inventions,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48but it is not the end of the story of power.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52This place, Drax, produces six million horsepower.
0:50:52 > 0:50:53What happens to it next?
0:50:58 > 0:51:01And this is it, the end of the line.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04All that power generated by the boilers and the turbines
0:51:04 > 0:51:09and the generators ends up here, in tiny, skinny little cables.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13Now, these are at 400,000 volts,
0:51:13 > 0:51:17and this cable set has enough power to power Liverpool or Birmingham.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20And it's just one of six sets of cables
0:51:20 > 0:51:22coming out of the turbine hall.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26Our modern world is all about access to power,
0:51:26 > 0:51:28but we know our resources are finite,
0:51:28 > 0:51:31so nowadays invention isn't just about making more power,
0:51:31 > 0:51:33it's about using it more cleverly.
0:51:34 > 0:51:36I'm here with Dr Colin Brown
0:51:36 > 0:51:39from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44So how do you think our relationship with power is affecting invention?
0:51:44 > 0:51:46I think what inventors have realised now
0:51:46 > 0:51:47is that the more people we've got,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49the higher standard of living that we want,
0:51:49 > 0:51:51the more power we are consuming,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54so the more efficient the devices have got to be.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57- Such as?- Well, the modern version would be something like a light bulb,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59where historically we would have heated something up
0:51:59 > 0:52:01so it glowed red-hot, or white-hot,
0:52:01 > 0:52:03and we're heating it up in order to get light,
0:52:03 > 0:52:05it's a funny way of getting light.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07So what you do is come up with things that give off light,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10like fluorescent lights, or now we have light-emitting diodes.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13Right, and I must admit, I still quite like the old lightbulbs,
0:52:13 > 0:52:15but you can't get them any more, can you?
0:52:15 > 0:52:17You can't, because they are six times less efficient
0:52:17 > 0:52:19than having other ways of generating light.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22I guess there's something beautiful about efficiency, isn't there?
0:52:22 > 0:52:26There is as an engineer, you've got to take delight in elegant solutions,
0:52:26 > 0:52:29and you're wondering, "How on earth did the engineer manage to do that?"
0:52:29 > 0:52:32You're dying to take it apart and look inside,
0:52:32 > 0:52:34but it's because it's an efficient design,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36it's because it's the best way of doing something,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39it's the one that wins through in the end and we all use.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42And that's sort of true as well of the mobile phone,
0:52:42 > 0:52:44that most people would rather have something small and neat
0:52:44 > 0:52:46than something enormous.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48We can all remember a mobile phone you could hardly pick up,
0:52:48 > 0:52:50the battery was much larger.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53But particularly the electronics consumed huge amounts of power.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57Now, with the reduction in the size of electronics,
0:52:57 > 0:52:58the amount of power you need has gone down
0:52:58 > 0:53:01by around about a factor of 40 since the original phones were made.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04So is efficiency just about cost?
0:53:04 > 0:53:06I think efficiency used to be just about cost,
0:53:06 > 0:53:08but now it's about a grim realisation
0:53:08 > 0:53:11that we're on a finite planet and there are finite resources here,
0:53:11 > 0:53:14so if we're setting fire to certain things to get energy out of them,
0:53:14 > 0:53:16we know they're going to run out at some time,
0:53:16 > 0:53:19and that's true of all of our energy sources,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22maybe apart from when we talk about using the sun,
0:53:22 > 0:53:24which has got four billion years.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27But apart from that, we are on a finite planet with finite resources,
0:53:27 > 0:53:29and that's becoming ever more evident.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32And you can see those pressures operating here at Drax.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34If it wants to stay in the game,
0:53:34 > 0:53:37it can't continue to rely simply on coal.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40Pollution costs, and Drax is Britain's biggest polluter.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45Its sheer size means it produces more CO2 than anywhere else.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47So what are they doing about it?
0:53:51 > 0:53:55Coal provides around 90% of the fuel burned at Drax.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57The rest is biomass.
0:53:59 > 0:54:00For the past few years,
0:54:00 > 0:54:04Drax has been preparing to convert to this new fuel.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08This giant dome is where they'll store it.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14This is Nigel Burdett. He's head of environment at Drax.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16Nigel, what exactly is biomass?
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Biomass is a term which covers a lot of things,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21so that's miscanthus, which we use some of,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24and that's pieces of willow, the ordinary tree that we're using.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26We use an awful lot of wood pellets as well,
0:54:26 > 0:54:27which is wood finally ground
0:54:27 > 0:54:29and pelletised into that sort of material.
0:54:29 > 0:54:30Does it burn as hot as coal?
0:54:30 > 0:54:33It burns at the same temperature and efficiency of coal, yes.
0:54:33 > 0:54:35And how are wood pellets better?
0:54:35 > 0:54:38Coal is very polluting, it produces a large amount of carbon dioxide,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41so what we're trying to do is replace coal
0:54:41 > 0:54:42with biomass as far as we can.
0:54:45 > 0:54:51Like coal, burning biomass still releases CO2 into the atmosphere.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56But its supporters say growing the plants required cancels this out.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59So what's the future for biomass at Drax?
0:54:59 > 0:55:01What we're aiming to do is fully convert a boiler,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04so it'll be on 100% biomass, and the year after that another one,
0:55:04 > 0:55:06so eventually the aim is to have three boilers
0:55:06 > 0:55:08fully converted to biomass.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13Biomass is just the latest chapter in the story of power.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Newcomen brought us the first working engine.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21Watt made it efficient and adaptable.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24Faraday's genius unlocked electricity.
0:55:24 > 0:55:29And finally, Parsons found a way to provide it in vast quantities.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33In just 300 years, we jumped from six horsepower to six million
0:55:33 > 0:55:36thanks to British invention.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39Our lives are far easier and more fun
0:55:39 > 0:55:42than our ancestors could ever have dreamt of.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46Inventors are still driven by the same desire
0:55:46 > 0:55:49to give us more power, more efficiently,
0:55:49 > 0:55:52wherever and whenever we want it.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55But now the overwhelming challenge for all of us
0:55:55 > 0:55:57is to do it more sustainably.
0:56:00 > 0:56:05So there you can see the Newcomen engine to biomass in just 300 years.
0:56:05 > 0:56:06300 years - fast, slow?
0:56:06 > 0:56:08What are you going to compare it with?!
0:56:08 > 0:56:11I think we dawdled at the beginning, then we got the hang of power,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14and we got really addicted to it, and now we love it.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16You know, TVs, computers, what's not to love?
0:56:16 > 0:56:19And then we kind of sped up, then we got addicted.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21Do you think biomass is the answer?
0:56:21 > 0:56:24Well, I mean, it's... it's not exactly carbon neutral,
0:56:24 > 0:56:26because you've always got to transport it,
0:56:26 > 0:56:28but it is a lot better than coal.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30I think the answer is solar power, to be honest.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33I think biomass is cool, I like it, a step in the right direction,
0:56:33 > 0:56:36but there's energy raining down from the sky in the form of sunshine,
0:56:36 > 0:56:39more than enough for everybody - just turn it into electricity.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42All we need is a bit more invention and we'll be there.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44So why aren't we doing it? Why haven't we tapped it?
0:56:44 > 0:56:47I think we sort of got a bit lazy and we think, you know,
0:56:47 > 0:56:49"All these great inventions around, someone else will do it."
0:56:49 > 0:56:53- But no, we should do it. Let's get out, use solar power.- Do you agree?
0:56:53 > 0:56:56I do, we've got that wealth of understanding of engineering,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59we've built this amazing modern world full of stuff.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01We just need to find a new way of feeding that addiction.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05Whatever the future, our inventions tonight
0:57:05 > 0:57:08certainly show the immense resourcefulness of the human race,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11and we are going to bring you more of these moments of genius
0:57:11 > 0:57:12in the next programme.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16We will be at Rolls-Royce in Derby
0:57:16 > 0:57:19to tell the story of movement and speed
0:57:19 > 0:57:21from the earliest steam train
0:57:21 > 0:57:23to the internal combustion engine
0:57:23 > 0:57:25to the jet engine.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28I'll be finding out how all steam engines are not the same.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30The arrival of an engine
0:57:30 > 0:57:33that could work with forces of high-pressure steam
0:57:33 > 0:57:36revolutionised our relationship with travel.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40Cassie will be exploring what happened
0:57:40 > 0:57:44when the internal-combustion engine finally met the chassis.
0:57:45 > 0:57:46And Mark will be revealing
0:57:46 > 0:57:50the extraordinary and British technology that goes into making
0:57:50 > 0:57:53one of the fastest and most complex machines in the world.
0:57:59 > 0:58:00It's going to be great.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03For now, however, it's good night from Drax.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07- Thank you for watching. Good night! - Good night.- Good night.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd