In considering the evolution of power generation, it is easy to jump to the industrial revolution and proceed from there. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Certainly not when considering the innovations upon which Glasgow was built and which were built in Glasgow – a city that significantly predates the industrial revolution, and is celebrating its 850th anniversary this year.
Water Power
Glasgow’s origins in the 12th century are as an ecclesiastical centre, with the establishment of the Cathedral, based above the Molendinar Burn. Commercial development was encouraged by the Bishops at the Cathedral, driving industry and trade.
A number of mills were developed on the waterways in this area, with a miller being one of the oldest trades for Glaswegians. The mills harnessed the power of the flowing water via waterwheels.
There is evidence that even in medieval times, Glaswegians may have been innovators, with the only example of a unique watermill being excavated from the site of the now no-longer existent Poldrait Burn. The watermill comprised a two-storey wooden building, and probably an undershot wheel. Oak posts and wattles of hazel and cherry wood were also found lining the banks of the burn1.
Steam Power
Taking somewhat of a leap forward in time, but less so in technological evolution, takes us to the dawn of the industrial revolution.
One of Glasgow’s most notable sons, James Watt (1736-1819), is often heralded as the father of the industrial revolution.
His innovation of a separate condenser provided the thermal efficiencies needed to allow the otherwise problematic Newcomen engine to work effectively, thus providing the key to unlocking steam power which was so pivotal to the realisation of the Industrial Revolution in Glasgow and the world over2.
In fact, it was whilst working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow that Watt was struck by the inspiration for his improved steam engine. The University’s own Newcomen engine happened to be notoriously problematic, and when asked to work on repairing this, Watt discovered how its inefficiencies could be improved.
To this day, the University remains custodian of the very engine which sparked Watt’s innovation and the industrial revolution that followed. In recognition of its significance, this Newcomen engine has since been awarded an Engineering Heritage Award. As recipient of this award, this jewel in Glasgow’s engineering crown keeps impressive company. Other recipients of the award include Alan Turing’s Bombe (his electro-mechanical code breaker), as well as the Concorde and the Jaguar E-Type3.
Wind Power
The industrial revolution was, of course, transformative for global society through technological evolution which drove social and economic change.
A century after James Watt, however, another innovator linked to Glasgow was already looking ahead to pastures new, and was certainly ahead of his time, when he began developing renewable power.
James Blyth (1839-1906) was an academic at Anderson’s College, which is now the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. During his time at the College, Blyth built the world’s first wind turbine, which he used to generate electricity for his holiday home in Aberdeenshire4.
Although the first technology of its kind, already Blyth’s innovation was capable of lighting ten 25V bulbs – provided a “moderate breeze” was blowing, which is really a given in Aberdeenshire and Glasgow alike – and was also capable of powering a small lathe. A far cry from the towering wind turbines which dot our horizons today, Blyth’s invention consisted of a 33ft tall shaft with a tripod support, the shaft having four 13ft arms, each of which was turned by means of its own canvas sail5.
Blyth was passionate about renewable power, presenting papers extolling the virtues of not only wind power, but also wave power. Unfortunately, as remains the case today with many great innovations, a preference to maintain the status quo prevailed, and it was not until another century later that wind power was considered again in the United Kingdom.
Even in the context of modern wind power in the United Kingdom, however, Glasgow remains at the very forefront of the field. Scottish Power’s Whitelee Windfarm – the UK’s largest onshore windfarm – is located a mere 20 minutes from the centre of Glasgow. Playing host to 215 wind turbines, Whitelee boasts a 539MW capacity capable of powering 350,000 homes (a slight step up from Blyth’s ten 25V bulbs)6. With Scotland at the very heart of the UK Government’s plans to bolster their net-zero approach through heavy development of offshore wind capacity, Glasgow also looks set to be at the very forefront of developments out in the Sea as well as on land.
Gas Power
As fossil fuel use continued from the first industrial revolution to the second, steam power was replaced by gas power, with the invention of the internal combustion engine.
We would be remiss to consider a brief history of innovation in power emerging from Glasgow, without mentioning the Glaswegian Sir Dugald Clerk (1854-1932) who developed the two-stroke Clerk engine, but also founded Marks & Clerk along with George Croydon Marks.
Another affiliate of Anderson’s College – being enrolled as a student there only a handful of years before James Blyth’s appointment as professor in 1880 – it was around this time that Dugald Clerk built his first gas engine7. It wouldn’t be until a number of years later, however, that Clerk would produce the two-stroke engine – capable of generating an ignition once every two strokes of the engine’s piston when compared to the contemporary four-stroke Otto engine8.
The two-stroke engine was very well received, a reception which encouraged Clerk to continue his innovative practices. Overall, Clerk himself was granted around 20 patents during his career, the vast majority of which related to gas engine technology. As we at Marks & Clerk continue to aid innovators in securing robust intellectual property protection for their innovations, Clerk’s legacy of technological innovation remains clear for all to see.
In addition to Clerk’s, it is notable that the innovations of Watt and Blyth were also patented, and it may be reasonable to speculate that the reason these innovations have been recorded and remembered in history is due to that fact. Not only does the patent system provide the patentee with control over the use of their invention, but it also builds a history and an encyclopedia of human knowledge and innovation, because the payoff for the patent rights is the publication of their invention accessible for all to learn from.
Hydrogen Power
As we near the end of our journey through 850 years of power generation and technological innovation in Glasgow, we reach modern times. As you may have guessed by now, Glasgow continues to be an innovative force to be reckoned with, having consistently ranked in the top 20% of the world’s 100 most innovative cities in years previous, each of these times ranking as the 2nd most innovative city in the UK, behind only London9.
Indeed, as part of the UK Government’s Leveling Up plans, Glasgow was selected as one of three pilot areas in the UK entitled to a share of £100 million towards the funding of a new innovation and research accelerator, the other areas being Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. Between 2023 and 2025, this programme saw investment in 26 different transformative R&D projects across the three pilot areas, and is set for a £30 million extension for 2025/202610.
And of course, Glaswegian innovators continue to develop and patent new means of power generation, following in the footsteps of their predecessor, James Blyth, as they return to renewable power solutions in an effort to realise the ‘net-zero’ ambitions of Scotland and the wider United Kingdom.
An assessment of innovative activity in the Glasgow area as it relates to renewable power generation in particular, reveals hydrogen power as an area of particular focus.
Glasgow University’s Hydrogen Innovation Technology Centre11, funded by the Scottish Government, clearly evidences this focus on hydrogen power development. The Centre’s aim is to support both academic research groups and commercial enterprises alike in progressing their innovative hydrogen technologies from conceptual to prototype. In realising this aim, the University has partnered with TUV SUD, who have themselves received a Scottish Government grant to improve their existing hydrogen testing facilities to be able to support innovators in the Glasgow area and beyond in their technological development.
Furthermore, a Glasgow Airport Hydrogen Innovation Hub12 is currently in development, with support from the Glasgow-based National Manufacturing Institute of Scotland (NMIS). This project – backed by funding from the Scottish Government – is aimed at generating, storing and distributing hydrogen at Glasgow Airport, with a view to supporting zero-emission flights from Glasgow by 2027. With its close proximity to many of Scotland’s rural and island communities, Glasgow represents an ideal setting from which innovative, hydrogen-powered regional and short-haul flights will be able to take off.
Sticking with the theme of environmentally-friendly aviation in Glasgow, a very recent announcement that US green aircraft engine developer ZeroAvia is set to establish a Hydrogen Centre of Excellence in the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) next to NMIS is welcome news13. Once again, this project is financially backed by the Scottish Government and supported by NMIS, standing Glasgow in good stead to drive innovation not only in hydrogen technologies but in clean aviation technologies at large.
Finally, and in keeping with Glasgow’s reputation as the friendliest city in the UK14, it is important to note that innovation in Glasgow is very much a collaborative effort, with efforts in wind power innovation easily aligning with and supporting those in, for example, hydrogen power innovation, and vice versa. This collaborative approach is clearly evidenced by a return to consideration of Glasgow’s Whitelee Windfarm which, as it already produces a very high level of renewable energy and plays host to a large variety of related infrastructure, represents an ideal location for the development of a Green Hydrogen Production and Storage Facility. This is so, as producing green hydrogen using only renewable sources requires a great deal of electricity. The wheels have already been set in motion to determine the feasibility of such a development15.
So, in its 850-year lifetime, Glasgow and Glaswegians have been busy. Having set the scene for great technological innovation in power generation throughout history, the city does not appear to be showing any signs of slowing down. With technological innovators being sought after more so than ever to realise the world’s ambitions for a net-zero future, the city appears primed and ready to answer this call. With an impressive resume in the fields of both fossil fuel and renewable-powered energy generation, Glaswegian innovators appear ideal candidates for the perfection of the energy mix balance so vital to the realisation of these net-zero goals.
1 https://www.theglasgowstory.com/story/?id=TGSAE
2 https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/jameswatt/jwanduofg/
3 https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2019/august/headline_666141_en.html
4 https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2022/07/james-blyth-harnesses-wind
5 https://engineeringhalloffame.org/profile/james-blyth
6 https://www.whiteleewindfarm.co.uk/whitelee-windfarm-about-us
7 https://www.gasenginemagazine.com/gas-engines/dugald-clerk-zm0z19aszhur/
8 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dugald-Clerk
9 https://glasgowcityregion.co.uk/innovation-accelerator/
10 https://glasgowcityregion.co.uk/innovation-accelerator-fuels-glasgow-city-regions-fintech-future-driving-growth-jobs-and-global-leadership/
11 https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/what-is-shine/shine-resources/shine-capability-directory/glasgow-hydrogen-innovation-centre
12 https://www.ikigai-capital.co.uk/glasgow-airport-hydrogen-hub-to-support-zero-emission-flight-by-2027/
13 https://nmis.scot/whats-happening/news/major-inward-investment-secured-manufacturer/
14 https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/friendliest-cities-in-uk
15 https://www.scottishpowerrenewables.com/pages/whitelee_solar_hydrogen_bess.aspx
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