this man is not calm

Chapter 436 Choice
From a professional perspective, lithium batteries are an alternative product between traditional storage batteries and the extremely technically difficult hydrogen fuel cells, and this cannot be said to be wrong, but the issues mentioned in the current report are no longer something Jin Shang can judge based on his memories of his previous life.

It is quite surprising that "Golden Broom" has a relatively positive evaluation of this conclusion.

"Could it be that the hydrogen energy route of "Xiao Ri Zi" was not wrong, but the strategy of building a patent moat early, waiting for others to climb the technology tree, and collecting "tolls" when the time was right, caused a backlash from major powers on both sides of the Pacific, making lithium battery-powered cars, a backup option, the best choice of an era?"

There is no need to recall carefully. Jin Shang still remembers the critical moment in the development of electric vehicles. The price of lithium carbonate, a strategic resource, once climbed to more than 600,000 per ton. In just two years, it increased fifteen times. After falling from the peak, it stabilized at around 70,000 to 80,000.

The world's lithium mineral resources are not particularly scarce, but they are not very abundant either. The biggest problem is that their distribution is very concentrated and it is difficult to refine them.

Considering its practical value, the application of lithium batteries in power vehicles is really a compromise product.

This route has been able to develop thanks to long-term market cultivation with large subsidies, policy tilts in all aspects, and the competition for the commanding heights of carbon emissions discourse power.

But it seems a bit unrealistic to say that this thing is the ultimate product. Even if the solid-state battery is successfully developed, it is still far from the ideal state of hydrogen energy batteries.

"Mr. Jin, I have also read relevant research reports and consulted professionals. The prospects for hydrogen energy are definitely broad, but it is not realistic to expect large-scale commercial use in a short period of time. From hydrogen production, storage, transportation, safe use to efficiency improvement, all aspects are obstacles. You don't need too much professional knowledge. Just flipping through the periodic table, you can draw the conclusion that hydrogen energy is the future, but it is hard to say when this 'future' will be realized."

Suppose there is a row of hydrogen fuel cell cars parked in the basement, and one of them leaks and then explodes. The power... I dare not imagine it. However, for lithium battery-powered cars, it is unlikely that they will spontaneously combust and affect surrounding cars.

The latter has battery anxiety, while the former has a real equivalent crisis.

and so……

"Based on the current technology development path, lithium batteries can participate, but don't get too involved, and don't bet everything on it as your core competitiveness in the future!"

"Yes! From the current use of data centers, it is similar to our expectations. The safety and stability of lead-acid batteries can be guaranteed. The floating charge performance is excellent and the fluctuation is small. It can be used as the last iron gate of power supply safety. Even if there are shortcomings such as short life and high loss, they can be compensated by high recovery rate. As for lithium iron phosphate batteries...the efficiency is very high, but the safety is difficult to evaluate and the price is expensive. More importantly, in the internal performance monitoring, we found a more serious problem of poor consistency."

In most cases, the performance gap between qualified products mass-produced using general processes is extremely small, but the differences between individual lithium iron phosphate batteries are relatively large, and become more obvious with use. This puts higher demands on the battery pack management system.

As for the more efficient ternary lithium batteries of the future, there will be even more problems. When Jin Shang thought of so many obstacles, he couldn't help but back down.

Even if we know the future direction and the pros and cons of the route, it is still extremely difficult to invest in research and development.

"We still need to provide funding. As for lithium iron phosphate...if we can solve the problem of polar materials, we can significantly reduce its weight and barely have the commercial value of power batteries. Then...we can move towards solid-state batteries. We need to adjust the budget plan and submit it together with the trial analysis report later."

After coming to the conclusion, Jin Shang sighed slightly, and then continued to ask,
"That's it for now. Another question... How was your experience with the vanadium liquid redox battery?"

"It's normal, stable, durable, and easy to operate, but... there are no surprises."

"That's it!"

No wonder this route was eventually abandoned, only to be brought up again in the future when the demand for large-capacity energy storage grows. As for replacing fossil fuels... that is just an impossible dream. The production of vanadium may not be able to meet the demand for comprehensive replacement, and storage and charging also require the construction of large-scale supporting facilities.

If we can't even solve the problem of a small electric vehicle charging station, and if we want to equip major ports and terminals around the world with vanadium liquid flow charging energy storage and filling systems, we can only hope that countries around the world will put aside their prejudices and form a super federation to integrate into one.

Even the "Beacon of Civilization" cannot do this kind of thing, let alone other forces.

In other words, the advantages and disadvantages of vanadium liquid flow batteries determine its scope of application, which is large-capacity, long-term energy storage and peak shaving and valley filling in the power grid. Other uses... cannot be expected.

Finally, back to the key hydrogen energy, whether it is power fuel replacement or hydrogen fuel cells, it seems to have broad prospects.

The biggest advantage is that the reserves of this element are abundant and can be found everywhere. Wherever there is water, there is hydrogen. It is easy to produce and is not like petroleum, lithium, vanadium, etc. which are controlled by others because of their overly concentrated distribution.

In fact, hydrogen fuel cells do not only consume hydrogen, but also natural gas, methanol, ethanol, biogas and other hydrocarbons, which can all come from a wide range of sources.

"Alkaline fuel cells (AFC) and phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC) are only used in special fields and are not suitable for large-scale commercial use. The second-generation molten carbonic acid fuel cells (MCFC) are mainly used for power generation equipment. The current development direction is in the direction of solid oxide fuel cells..."

Liu Yanqing explained a lot, and Jin Shang also understood the general idea. Pure hydrogen fuel cell (RFC) is definitely the most ideal, but the problem is how to produce cheap hydrogen and use it efficiently. There is currently no particularly good way to do it.

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (DMFC) using methanol as fuel is already relatively mature, but its power density, fuel conversion rate, reliability and cost issues still need to be improved.

The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is the one that really shows promise at the moment.

But this thing also has its shortcomings. Because it is a high-temperature fuel cell, it takes a long time to start up. In order to protect the battery components, the heating rate cannot be too fast. It is estimated that it will take more than an hour to reach the ideal working condition.

Another problem is that the electrode materials contain precious metals and rare earth elements, which are relatively expensive.

In addition, this thing has not been commercialized on a large scale, and its stability and battery life have yet to be verified. "The research and development focus should be on solid oxide batteries. Others... should not be completely abandoned. Appropriate funding should be provided to some research and development teams. Science and technology are very metaphysical and not continuous. In the last century, aluminum was more valuable than gold, but the electrolytic aluminum technology was discovered and the power technology advanced by leaps and bounds. Aluminum was kicked out of the ranks of precious metals and became a bulk raw material similar to iron. Fuel cells... who knows when a powerful person will appear, or an unexpected discovery in the laboratory will change the situation. We cannot bet everything on one throw and not pay attention to strategy..."

His grandfather's failure has always reminded Jin Shang that even if he has foresight and the protection of the "golden finger", he should not think that he can grasp the details of the development of the times. He should not be too confident, as he may be slapped in the face by scientific discoveries at any time.

"In addition, hydrogen energy will not be able to play a role in high-power power generation and power batteries in the short term. However, it seems to be a good choice for large-scale transportation, such as ships and electric rail vehicles..."

Whether it is transport trains, high-speed railways or urban rail subways, private enterprises cannot be relied upon. There are also various problems in the automobile sector, but water transportation seems to be very promising.

The transport fleet under Jinxi Culture includes multi-fuel cargo ships powered by compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. They do not use fuel cells, but have greatly reduced operating costs. They can travel unimpeded by refueling with gas at several commonly used inland ports.

Currently, the efficiency of fuel cells is not very good. If a combined heat and power system is used, it can be increased to more than 80%. This means that it may be a bit difficult to directly serve as the core of the power system, but in the northern region, there are still many application scenarios.

"Mr. Jin, what you mean is to try it on land first, and then promote the use of solid fuel cells on small and medium-sized inland ships?"

"Even if it is not directly used as an electric propulsion system, it is also very promising in the field of marine power supply, fan air conditioning, communication equipment, lighting system, cabin heating, etc...."

"The technology is not mature yet and probably cannot be used on board ships. It will be very difficult to pass the classification society..."

Well, this problem is really hard to solve in a short time. Marine equipment requires durability, and the recognition of new equipment is relatively low, especially when it comes to power supply. There is no precedent, which means that it is impossible to find written clauses in maritime regulations, and there is no classification certificate. The shipowner dares to use it, and the surveyor dares not sign and seal it.

It is quite difficult to promote it, and it will definitely not be effective in a short time.

"Then... we should set up a pilot project on land and invite the mentors from the school's research institute to come over. We can publish several papers every year. We won't lose out. We can accumulate experience and get a lot of subsidies."

One of the major advantages of solid oxide fuel cells is clearly stated in the report: small footprint and high utilization rate. A 100-kilowatt SOFC power station only requires 6 to 8 square meters of area, while a photovoltaic power station of the same power requires at least 800 square meters, a difference of more than 100 times.

Not only does it not take up space, it also has a wide range of fuel adaptability, is clean and pollution-free, has a high energy conversion rate, makes almost no noise, and has no impact in downtown areas.

If the problem of replacing precious metals and rare elements can be solved, it will be perfect for small and medium-sized electricity consumption scenarios.

"I see it's written here... We are researching a ceramic material to replace catalysts containing precious metals and rare elements. It seems to be a bit promising. You go... Never mind, I'll ask my advisor to contact them. If there are indeed results, we'll apply for a joint R&D center. I'm quite interested in this area. Even if I can only get subsidies, a small-scale trial is fine. Anyway, I don't expect it to really replace the existing energy supply system within ten years..."

When the crude oil price is below 500 yuan (about 60 US dollars), shale oil has no value in exploitation and utilization. Offshore oil only has economic benefits in the nearshore area, and as for deep sea... it's hard to say.

In 1997, the price of crude oil was less than ten US dollars. It was simply a dream to expect to make money from new energy.

When did our motherland in the previous life begin to vigorously promote lithium battery-powered vehicles?
The price of crude oil soared to a peak of $130 and remained above $100 for a long time. To make matters worse, the imports of high-quality iron ore and coal were also manipulated and ripped off from time to time because the country did not have the right to set prices.

As for domestic oil, it is generally acknowledged that the total amount is large and the quality is low. With the development of the economy, the demand has soared and the self-sufficiency rate has dropped below the warning line.

Energy substitution is an overall strategy and should not be taken lightly.

Jin Shang was born too late and no longer had the opportunity to get involved in the traditional coal, steel, electricity and oil businesses. New energy is a good breakthrough.

"In short, we are not a traditional manufacturing company. We are essentially a high-tech company. We do industry to find application scenarios for IT Internet, such as data centers, smart cities, power management systems, etc., which require a large number of sensors, electronic circuits, and intelligent management systems. We are highly dependent on the semiconductor industry. We cannot make a breakthrough in the field of top-level chip manufacturing for the time being, so we will first accumulate more experience in practical fields with low production precision."

In his previous life, Mou Wei was just a local small electronic equipment supplier at first. He had poor technology and it was difficult to guarantee the quality. However, he established a firm foothold in the low-end alternative market by relying on flexible after-sales service and low prices. Then he gradually expanded and became the world's top software and hardware manufacturer.

It is not a good thing to aim too high. It is good enough to do well what you can do now.

A large part of Jinxi Culture's software technology strength was directly acquired, and its hardware manufacturing also had its own sources. The integrated laptop computers that are about to be released have a self-produced parts rate of less than 5%, and most of them have no technical content. In fact, it is just a product design and assembly factory.

If we really want to become a large company with core competitiveness, we still have a long way to go.

He encouraged Liu Yanqing and told him that while he was also in charge of the data center construction, he should also seize the time to perfect the supporting application development for next year's new equipment and systems, and also keep up with after-sales service. He must not fail in this grand strategy.

After deciding on the key R&D investments for the future, Jin Shang turned his attention to the core applications of the data center. Currently, the daily login time is longest for Jinxi Chat and Jinxi Games. The next area that needs to be focused on is the Xiaolingtong data exchange system, which has more than 80 million users and a large number of call requests and text messages are sent every moment.

Such a massive amount of data exchange involves astonishingly large computing requirements. In addition, some customized SP services are gradually unable to keep up with the demand with the original processing method. Subscribing to mobile newspapers, weather forecasts, ringback tone services, harassment blocking, etc. all require data centers to provide computing power services.

If we add the upcoming family numbers prepared for the New Year, group messaging with friends, and roaming discounts for network account binding, as well as next year's large-scale MMORPG online games, I'm afraid the existing computing power may not be enough.

(End of this chapter)