African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1037 Electrification

Ernst: "In 1900, the total mileage of European railways was close to kilometers, slightly less than that of the United States. During my country's First Five-Year Plan, railway construction in European countries also developed rapidly. Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and a number of small European countries are further promoting railway transportation construction."

"So even if the Second Five-Year Plan is completed, my country's railways will still lag behind those of European and American countries. However, with the rise of road transportation and the rapid development of the automobile industry, it is obvious that some regional transportation no longer requires the construction of separate railway lines."

Before the First Five-Year Plan, Ernst's words might not have been very convincing, but after the East African automobile industry took off, production reached an astonishing million levels. Now the East African government has a clearer understanding of the impact of roads and other modes of transportation on railways.

"Of course, as Andre said before, our country's inland shipping conditions are far inferior to those of Europe, America, and even the Far East Empire, so the important position of railway construction in our country's transportation system cannot be replaced by other forms of transportation."

"Therefore, during the Second Five-Year Plan, and even in the Third and Fourth Five-Year Plans, railway construction will remain an important task in my country's industrial construction. Even if East African railways reach saturation in the future, railway technology will continue to develop, so maintaining railway operations is a long-term task."

"For example, railway electrification can be expected to be an important direction for future railway development. During the Second Five-Year Plan, my country will promote the construction of two experimental electrified railways."

As a relatively young form of transportation, railways have extremely strong vitality. In the past, railways developed towards electrification, and in the 21st century, they are vigorously developing towards high-speed railways. High-speed railways are relatively far away for East Africa, but this is not the case with railway electrification.

As early as 1879, Germany's Siemens and Hals built the world's first electrified railway, so electrified railways are not far away for the development of East Africa's railway industry.

However, the East African railway is still in the accumulation stage, and there is still a long way to go before electricity is popularized. It is certainly impossible to promote electrified railways on a large scale at this stage.

Although it is too early to talk about the electrification of East African railways at this stage, East Africa is at the forefront of the world in research and development and preparation in related fields.

"At present, my country's railways are developing from steam power to internal combustion engine power, and electric transmission is the main direction of internal combustion engine power. However, providing electricity still requires liquid energy such as oil as fuel, and East Africa's oil resources are relatively scarce. Even if the current national oil production can barely meet domestic demand, we still have to plan for the future."

From the perspective of national defense security and energy security, although East Africa is currently self-sufficient in oil, the demand for oil in East Africa has increased quite rapidly, which is also the main reason why East Africa imports large quantities of oil from countries such as Tsarist Russia.

Ernst is quite worried about the oil reserves in East Africa, which also makes East Africa a world leader in the use of other energy sources, such as the promotion of natural gas and electricity, where East Africa far exceeds other countries.

East Africa has huge potential for hydropower and nuclear power, and with technological advances, future forms of power generation will inevitably be diversified. Therefore, Ernst has always been actively promoting the important role of electricity in the field of energy security in advance, and all this requires technological breakthroughs in related fields to be realized.

Ernst went on to say: “The railway sector must be brave enough to try new technologies and promote innovation, especially in the field of energy. On the one hand, it must diversify, and on the other hand, it must actively adapt to the era of electrification. In the new era, internal combustion engine technology and power development are the main characteristics of today's world. Although we in East Africa are at the forefront, we must also have a sense of crisis and cannot stagnate.”

Andre: "Your Highness, rest assured. Our Ministry of Railways is now in a slowing phase in terms of construction increments. A large part of the resources are invested in scientific research. In 1906 to 1907, the two electrified railways will be completed."

East Africa's research and development of electrified railway technology began in 1895, more than a decade after the world's first electrified railway was built. However, this does not mean that East Africa is lagging behind in research in this field.

In fact, over time, East Africa has surpassed Germany in relevant technical reserves. Although Germany is a pioneer in electrified railways, German railway companies and government departments are not interested in promoting railway electrification. At present, coal is still the most important basic energy in the world. Most of the railways in Europe are still traditional steam locomotives. In this case, countries have almost no worries about energy security. The world's coal resources are abundant, and the distribution is not as concentrated as oil. The output is huge and the price is low.

Although some countries have begun to develop in the direction of internal combustion locomotives, at that time Europeans and Americans' understanding of oil resources was still immature, and most people believed that oil resources were inexhaustible.

This is indeed true. Even if development continues for another hundred years, oil resources will not be exhausted, but the cost of oil extraction will be very high by then.

In short, at present, there is no need for the German government or railway companies to go to great lengths to promote the construction of electrified railways. Coal and oil resources are abundant and easy to use. Traditional railways also have lower construction and maintenance costs than electrified railways.

This led to a relatively slow development of Germany's electrified railway technology, while East Africa, driven by Ernst, came from behind to surpass Germany in electrified railway construction. If the two electrified railways in East Africa were to mature in operation during the Second Five-Year Plan, many railways in East Africa might be electrified in the future.

This means that during the Second Five-Year Plan, the East African railway manufacturing industry will see the co-development of three types of railways: steam-powered, internal combustion engine-powered, and electrified.

It is impossible for East Africa to completely eliminate the first two, especially internal combustion engine locomotives, which have only just started in East Africa. It only needs to adjust the proportions in the future to meet the requirements of the times.

Even in the 21st century, many operating railways were not electrified, both in the Far East and Europe. Therefore, the emergence of electrified railways for East African railways is not a replacement or inheritance relationship, but a diversified development, which is an important supplement to the original railway system.

In fact, electrification is not only reflected in railways. Electrification is an important development direction in the field of rail transportation across East Africa, and the East African automobile industry also has similar technical breakthrough projects.

For example, using natural gas or other energy sources to replace oil, electricity is also an important area, which involves research on motors, control systems and electrical storage.

In fact, the emergence of the automobile industry did not start with the internal combustion engine. The steam cars in Europe and the United States were the source. The emergence of the internal combustion engine simply enabled traditional cars to replace coal with oil, so finding a substitute for oil is not a fantasy.

The changes in East Africa's railway and automobile industries actually reflect the industrial and social development of East Africa, which is constantly moving towards electrification.

Today, the internal combustion engine and electricity, two iconic products of the Second Industrial Revolution, have shown a trend of combining in East African industry and society. Take the automobile manufacturing industry as an example. Based on the internal combustion engine as a power source, electronic equipment is also being continuously used in vehicles.

Ernst concluded: "Electrification has become one of the main trends in East Africa's social development. Promoting electrification is an important boost to East Africa's progress toward modernization. In the future, whether a country is developed or not, the degree of electrification is an important reference, just like steel production, which can directly reflect the technological and economic status of a country or region."

"Therefore, promoting the electrification of East Africa is an important task for our industry. This process is extremely long. Before the middle of this century, our society should at least achieve universal access to electricity throughout the whole society."

(End of this chapter)