Empire Rising: Spain

In contrast, light bulbs provide more stable illumination and are much brighter than kerosene lamps and torches. If it weren’t for the issue of power transmission, some factories on the outskirts of Madrid have already considered purchasing light bulbs for lighting.

If factories could be equipped with a large number of light bulbs, it would mean that they might be able to implement a two-shift system of day and night shifts.

Summer might not be much of an issue, but in winter, when it gets dark earlier, the role of electric light bulbs becomes quite evident.

With the brightness provided by electric light bulbs, workers can ensure their safety while working at night. After all, only by seeing their surroundings clearly can workers avoid dangerous areas.

Graham naturally knows the main reasons hindering the commercial use of electricity. Currently, the Electricity Laboratory is heavily researching ways to transmit and store electricity.

Of course, there’s also the issue of generator power. At present, the maximum power of generators in the Electricity Laboratory is only 6.5KW, which can only drive a small motor or provide lighting for hundreds of bulbs.

Additionally, due to resistance and power consumption during transmission, at most three-quarters of the power generated by the power plant is utilized, with one-quarter being consumed during transmission.

To meet the electricity demands of the Royal Palace and government buildings, a power plant near the Royal Palace has installed three thermal generators, with a maximum power output of 19.5KW, making it the largest power plant in the world.

However, due to the loss of electricity during transmission, this largest thermal power plant in the world can only meet the electricity needs of the Royal Palace and government buildings, leaving the Parliament building further away without power.

To promote the commercial use of electricity now, it would require building a thermal power plant at every factory and place needing electricity.

But this is absolutely impossible, and it is precisely this major limitation that makes it difficult for electricity to be promoted and commercialized.

Taking advantage of Tesla joining the Electricity Laboratory, Carlo once again approved more R&D funding for the Electricity Laboratory and requested the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau to gather more electrical talent throughout Europe for the laboratory, aiming to solve the problem of electricity transmission in a shorter time.

As long as the two major issues of electricity transmission and generator power are resolved, the current electricity can already enter the commercial era.

After all, any commercial use of technology evolves gradually and can’t wait for the electricity system to rival future generations before entering the commercial stage.

When in the future electricity enters the commercial and widespread promotion phase, Graham’s Electricity Laboratory will be reorganized into the Spanish National Power Company, responsible for promoting the use and commercialization of electricity throughout Spain.

In the future industrial bases of Madrid, Seville, and Barcelona, the use of electricity will be vigorously promoted.

The electrification era drove Germany and the United States to successively become the world’s shining stars, and Carlo naturally also wants Spain to take a share.

The British Empire, as the biggest beneficiary of the first industrial revolution, has already enjoyed enough glory and illustrious history.

Now it is time for Spain to enjoy this feeling. Spain must become one of the promoters of electrification and one of its greatest beneficiaries.

This is still very achievable. Although the United Kingdom established a considerable industrial system through the first industrial revolution, at the same time, it also gave birth to a large group of factory owners and capitalists who got rich from industrial development.

In countries like Germany and the United States, and Spain, it is easier to promote electrification than in the United Kingdom.

Because electrification, compared to technologies born from the first industrial revolution, is a completely new technology.

If the United Kingdom wants to fully promote electrification, it must completely replace the equipment and factories of the first industrial revolution.

Completely replacing industrial equipment means huge expenditures and will also affect the production of those factories and the interests of factory owners.

Would those capitalists, whose eyes are filled with money, agree to this? Of course, they would not agree.

The United Kingdom only needs to continue using the technologies from the first industrial revolution to achieve steady growth in its industries. Given this, why take the risk of using electrification technology?

Although new technology has more potential, it often also represents more problems and potential risks.

This is precisely why, ultimately, the United Kingdom did not keep pace during the second industrial revolution, and its industrial scale was successively surpassed by the United States and Germany.

The British Government may also have seen this problem, but they cannot change it. Fully promoting electrification would mean opposing the existing factory owners and capitalists, which is absolutely impossible for the United Kingdom to do at present.

Because this would harm the foundation of the United Kingdom and make the vast industrial system of the British Empire instantly very fragile, and might even trigger greater internal chaos and crises.

In addition to paying an extra research budget to Graham’s Electricity Laboratory, Carlo also provided R&D funds to Benz’s automotive laboratory.

Almost four years have passed since Benz created a simple prototype of a car, and the automotive laboratory has achieved more results during these four years.

However, due to insufficient industrial levels, cars still cannot be mass-produced, with only a few hundred units produced each year.