African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1376: Chapter 367: Energy Structure

In May, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary held a secret meeting in the Netherlands, marking the beginning of a long road of negotiations, which can be considered a good start.

After all, Europe had been at war for nearly five years, and expecting them to reconcile in a short period was just wishful thinking.

With the passage of time, peace will eventually come, as European countries are not foolish; they do not want to fight to the death and leave East Africa, the United States, and Soviet Russia to benefit.

The ambassador from East Africa to the Netherlands said, ”I suggest that everyone conduct negotiations calmly. We are all here for peace, so we should seek common ground while reserving differences and abandon some stubborn and rigid ideas.”

The Dutch Prime Minister Kebel also agreed, saying, ”Europe can fully accommodate several great powers. It’s unnecessary to fight to the death. If each country takes a step back without harming its core interests, Europe will have a better future.”

Although this was said, the representatives of the belligerent countries at the conference still argued heatedly, and the first meeting was interrupted several times, keeping East Africa and the Netherlands busy mediating.

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The meetings and wars in Europe ultimately did not affect the current stage of development in East Africa. As time progressed, the data obtained by the East African Government was also gathered together.

Rhein City.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry of East Africa, the Ministry of Resources, and the National Bureau of Statistics organized a joint meeting to summarize and analyze East Africa’s current energy production situation.

Minister Met of the Ministry of Industry said, ”At present, our country’s energy structure has undergone major changes. In addition to stable coal production, oil has become the most indispensable and irreplaceable important energy source for the Empire. The proportion of hydropower in the energy structure has significantly increased, and the exploitation and application of natural gas have also begun to spread on a large scale.”

”Coal remains our country’s primary energy source, widely used in steel, metallurgy, power generation, and other fields.”

”Throughout 1918, our coal output increased to more than 230 million tons, compared to the 35th period, which is more than 30 million tons higher, yet the number of workers in coal-related industries has dropped to 1.08 million.”

East Africa’s annual coal production is not considered high, especially among the great powers of the world. This data is only equivalent to the annual coal production of the United Kingdom and Germany, while the United States had already surpassed 200 million tons of coal production per year at the end of the 19th century, and now exceeds 400 million tons.

The United Kingdom currently produces about 290 million tons of coal annually, close to the 300 million-ton level, and Germany, being modest to the United Kingdom, is around 270 million tons.

Moreover, the United States, the United Kingdom, East Africa, and Germany are currently the only four countries in the world with coal production exceeding 200 million tons.

France, the Austria-Hungary Empire, and Russia have outputs ranging from tens of millions of tons. France is constrained by a lack of natural conditions, with a lack of coal resources at home, and thus cannot increase production, while Russia is hindered by backward industries and underdeveloped technologies, with Austria-Hungary situated between the two.

In this view, East Africa’s coal production ranks fourth in the world, only behind the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, but the total production is significantly higher than other countries.

However, total output is one thing, and per capita is another. East Africa has now become the third most populous country in the world, only after the Far East Empire and India, so comparing to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, East Africa’s coal production is relatively low.

Minister Met also explained the reasons for this result: ”With the promotion of oil and natural gas and other energy sources, our coal mining industry has been impacted to some extent.”

”As the development of oil, natural gas, and hydropower progresses, the gap between our coal production and that of the United States and Germany may widen further.”

”But this is a good phenomenon, indicating the diversification of the Empire’s energy development, thereby avoiding the predicament that the United Kingdom faces today in the future.”

The United Kingdom is the world’s second-largest coal producer, even without accounting for the coal production of British colonies, but the UK’s enormous coal industry faces severe problems.

On one hand, with the steady progress of the Second Industrial Revolution, the UK coal industry has already reached its peak, and constrained by the limits of the industry, the robust coal industry has instead become a constraint on British industry.

On the other hand, the efficiency of coal utilization in the United Kingdom is relatively low. Although production is high, its utilization is not as good as in the United States, Germany, and East Africa.

This can be seen from the steel industries of various countries; although the United Kingdom is the world’s fourth-largest steel producer, its production is already far behind that of East Africa, the United States, and Germany.

This is actually understandable. Compared to the United Kingdom, East Africa, the United States, and Germany are all late-developing industrial countries, so their technology, management, and equipment update faster than British coal enterprises.

Minister Met said, ”From the perspective of our own national development, the development of oil, electricity, and natural gas has had a significant impact on the coal industry, while maintaining a large and outdated coal production system in the United Kingdom is instead unfavorable to subsequent industrial upgrades in the UK.”

”This also, to some extent, proves the benefits of energy diversification for industrial production in the Empire, especially strategically, it has effectively guaranteed our national energy security.”

”In the coal sector alone, according to the final data, by 1918, our proven coal reserves have reached as high as 60 billion tons, enough for nationwide mining for hundreds of times.”