Sail across the sea

Chapter 492 They actually have some kind of telepathic connection.

At the same time, in a high-end restaurant in Ruizhang, Jiang Rongcai, deputy director of the Maolin Provincial Planning Commission, was entertaining a foreign guest with a high nose named Skelley, a business representative of Fair Chemical Company in the United States.

This was a somewhat private banquet, so there weren't many people accompanying the guests. Jiang Rongcai brought his trusted subordinate, Wu Yawei, the deputy director of the General Affairs Department of the State Planning Commission. Skelly, on the other hand, brought his Chinese translator, Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei was Gao Fan's high school classmate. Six years ago, Zhang Wei graduated from Maolin Normal College and went to the United States to study. After obtaining a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Zhang Wei joined Fair Chemical Company as an after-sales engineer in the company's marketing department.

This time, Fair Chemicals sent Skelly to China to explore the market. Zhang Wei, being Chinese, was appointed as Skelly's assistant and translator and came to China with him.

After more than a decade of opening up to the outside world, foreign guests are no longer considered a rarity in China. They are free to move about as long as it doesn't involve national defense or security. Foreign affairs departments no longer engage in large-scale receptions; they only intervene to coordinate when foreign guests require it.

Skelly and Zhang Wei traveled to several provinces, engaging in numerous official and private exchanges with local officials. Although Skelly didn't speak Chinese, he had a deep understanding of Chinese policies and regulations, enabling him to conduct in-depth communication with officials.

Malling was the fifth province Skelly had visited. After arriving in Malling, Skelly heard about the province's intention to build a large fertilizer plant, so he asked Zhang Wei to arrange a meeting with officials from the provincial planning commission.

Zhang Wei contacted Wu Yawei, a fellow villager who worked at the State Planning Commission, and through Wu Yawei, he arranged to meet Jiang Rongcai. Hearing that a business representative from American Fair Chemicals wanted to speak with him privately, Jiang Rongcai readily agreed and instructed Wu Yawei to book a restaurant to welcome Skelly.

The formalities that followed the start of the banquet need no further explanation. After several rounds of drinks, Jiang Rongcai asked Skelly about the purpose of his visit.

“I’ve heard that Maldives is planning to build a large-scale ammonia synthesis plant. Fair Chemical is one of the most renowned ammonia synthesis equipment manufacturers in the United States, with more than 200 core patents for ammonia synthesis. I think there should be opportunities for cooperation between us.”

"Skelly got straight to the point," he said.

He knew that Americans were generally perceived as very frank by many Chinese people. Therefore, he deliberately cultivated a frank and innocent persona in various situations, a persona that served as a protective shield when interacting with Chinese officials.

The news that Maolin Province was going to build a large fertilizer plant was no secret. Provincial leaders had mentioned it in several speeches, so Jiang Rongcai was not surprised that Skelly knew about it.

Upon hearing Skelly's answer, Jiang Rongcai smiled slightly and said, "Our province does indeed have plans to expand fertilizer production. However, we haven't yet decided whether to build a large-scale 30-ton synthetic ammonia plant or adopt the 18-ton synthetic ammonia plant recommended by the Ministry of Chemical Industry of my country."

"A 30-ton synthetic ammonia plant with urea as raw material requires an investment of over 20 billion yuan. If coal-water slurry is used as raw material, the investment would exceed 30 billion yuan, equivalent to more than 5 million US dollars. Such a large investment puts a lot of pressure on Maolin Province. Therefore, we prefer to choose the domestically produced 18-ton synthetic ammonia project."

“No, Mr. Jiang, I think your thinking is incorrect,” Skelly said. “Large-scale equipment is more efficient than small-scale equipment; this is common sense in industry.”

"For a major agricultural province like Maolin, a single 180,000-ton plant is far from sufficient. You should build at least three 300,000-ton plants. Therefore, you need to pay even more attention to the efficiency of the plants. While the initial investment for a 300,000-ton plant is higher, the benefits are also very significant. According to our calculations, a large-scale ammonia synthesis plant using natural gas as feedstock consumes less than 30 GJ of energy per ton of ammonia. However, according to data disclosed by your Ministry of Chemical Industry, the 180,000-ton medium-sized ammonia synthesis plant they recommend consumes over 50 GJ of energy per ton of ammonia."

"In May of this year, the United Nations adopted the Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sets forth requirements for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. China's energy-intensive ammonia synthesis program does not comply with the requirements of the climate convention, and I am worried that these technologies will be forcibly phased out in the near future because they cannot meet the emission control standards."

"Is there such a saying?" Jiang Rongcai turned to look at Wu Yawei and asked him for confirmation.

Wu Yawei was a college student during the Cultural Revolution. Two years ago, he also obtained a part-time postgraduate diploma from Maolin University. Because of his broad knowledge and his ability to "align with international standards," he was favored by Jiang Rongcai and regarded as one of Jiang Rongcai's advisors.

China's participation in signing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was a major event in 1992, and Jiang Rongcai was naturally aware of it. However, he couldn't understand the specific relationship between this convention and the large fertilizer plant that the province was planning to build.

Upon hearing his superior's question, Wu Yawei quickly nodded and said, "Director Jiang, what Mr. Skelly said makes some sense. Our country is a signatory to the United Nations Climate Change Convention and has made commitments to controlling greenhouse gas emissions."

"A while ago, the Provincial Policy Research Office released a report that specifically addressed the issue of energy structure. The report stated that the world is currently reducing the use of coal and increasing the use of natural gas, which is considered a clean energy source. I remember there was a figure in the report that said, with the same calorific value, natural gas emits only half the carbon dioxide of coal and only 70% of that of oil."

"Of the 13 large-scale fertilizer plants that our country imported in the 70s, 10 used natural gas as raw material and 3 used oil. This shows that since then, the world has stopped using coal as a raw material for fertilizer production."

That doesn't seem to be the case...

Upon hearing Wu Yawei's words, Zhang Wei's lips moved, but he ultimately did not correct him.

In fact, there are still ammonia synthesis processes using coal as a raw material internationally, and these processes are constantly being improved and are not obsolete technologies. Fair Chemicals itself has several ammonia synthesis technologies based on anthracite and coal-water slurry, and a couple of years ago it even built a coal-based ammonia synthesis plant in Latin America.

The claim that fertilizers can be produced without coal is merely Wu Yawei's subjective interpretation.

Perhaps the liberal arts students in the provincial policy research office also have this misconception.

Unbeknownst to Zhang Wei, at this moment he found himself sharing a similar sentiment with his old classmate Gao Fan.

(End of this chapter)