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PRODID:-//Columba Systems Ltd//NONSGML CPNG/SpringViewer/ICal Output/3.3-
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VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20151005T172201Z
DTSTART:20151110T130000Z
DTEND:20151110T140000Z
SUMMARY:World War One and the Development of Electrical Supply in Britain
 
UID:{http://www.columbasystems.com/customers/uom/gpp/eventid/}tbb-ife7g1t
 s-efd3gr
DESCRIPTION:This seminar is part of the lunchtime seminar series for the 
 Centre for the History of Science\, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM). Lun
 chtime seminars are typically no more than 30 minutes in length\, follow
 ed by a period for audience questions (ending before 2pm). All are welco
 me.\n\nWorld War One and the Development of Electrical Supply in Britain
 \n\nPaul Coleman (University of Leeds)\n\nAbstract:\nThe argument that w
 arfare drives innovation is not new\, however it is often applied to obv
 iously military technologies such as the submarine or tank. However\, de
 velopments in predominantly civilian technologies are less obviously exp
 lained that way\, at least for the early twentieth century. This paper e
 xtends Edgerton’s warfare state thesis back into the First World War and
  the development of the British electricity supply. Not only was access 
 to electrical power vital to any economy that operated on a war footing:
  contrary to the claims of Thomas Hughes and Leslie Hannah - the First W
 orld War was to have a lasting and pervasive influence on the developmen
 t of electrical supply in Britain.\n\nPrior to the war electrical supply
  networks in Britain were predominantly regional restricted by governmen
 t regulation to supplying only small civic/county catchment areas. The G
 reat War changed this\, the huge increase in demand for munitions produc
 tion leading to increased demands for electricity. By mid-1915 the Minis
 try of Munitions had secured unprecedented control of electrical energy 
 production. It thus acquired the authority to allocate resources for the
  extension and construction of new power stations\, where possible inter
 connection of power networks was encouraged in order to improve efficien
 cy and security of supply. Realising the potential importance of electri
 city to the nation\, Lloyd George’s wartime government instigated a seri
 es of commissions and reports into the future organisation of the electr
 icity supply\, the conclusions of which formed the basis of a significan
 t post-war re-organisation of the electricity supply industry resulting 
 in the creation of the National Grid in 1926.
STATUS:TENTATIVE
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
LOCATION:2.57\, Simon Building\, Manchester
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