The rain in Scotland falls mainly on me.
Romulus visted again. This time he was elated by gadgetry. He loves all that sort of thing. I was interested in his idea of a solar-powered train, but at the same time I was a little miffed.
Solar power is a wonderful thing. Free electricity is not to be scoffed at. I try to use as little mains power as possible, but from this month's bill I suspect Stumpy is tapping in somewhere. But that's another story.
Solar power needs one vital component. Sunlight. Dume Swamp has little of that. I can tell when it's daytime, most days, but there's never enough to make any solar-powered thing worthwhile.
I go for wind power. There's a lot of it here, and I've even fitted a little turbine into Stumpy's favourite chair. I can power a small town when he's eaten beans. There is another alternative that occurred to me recently.
Rain. I'm in Scotland, and rain is one of our greatest natural resources. We have a lot of it.
Dume Towers has a lot of roof area too. All that rain is collected in gutters and sent into downpipes. So, what if every downpipe had a water wheel connected to a generator?
Don't get hung up on thinking green. Think 'free' instead. Why pay for someone else to provide power when there's so much of it available for nothing? Rain power is certainly the way forward for where I live. Energy that literally drops from the sky.
So, next time that smug Professor visits, I'll take him outside and show him the Rain Train.
Weather permitting, naturally.
