this man is not calm

Chapter 389 Everyone takes a step back

Thirty to fifty thousand cubic meters is about the size of a large swimming pool or a medium-sized pond.

If the football park stadium is closed and filled with several meters of water, it will exceed 100,000 cubic meters.

It seems like a lot, but when it comes to real use, it is far from enough for super-large cities.

As if he had anticipated Jin Shang's attitude, Hong Renquan smiled knowingly and explained slowly:

"Beijing is such a big city, with a permanent population of nearly 13 million last year. Does Mr. Jin know the average daily water consumption?"

"Ok?"

"Just over 1.2 million square meters!"

"How is that possible? Considering the per capita water consumption... it's just that little, not to mention that the local industrial strength is not weak..."

"Your understanding and speculation are very different from reality. Generally speaking, in the southern areas with abundant water resources, industrial water use accounts for about 30% to 35%, which is basically the same level. Of course, in some small places, such as small counties with relatively single industries, industrial water use accounts for 80%, but these cases are not representative. It's different in the water-scarce areas in the north. The control is stricter, and industrial water use accounts for less than 25% in many places, and the proportion of recycled water has exceeded 20%..."

"So exaggerated?"

Nodding implicitly, Hong Renquan responded with a smile:
"With the continuous advancement of urbanization and the development of the domestic economy, the proportion of industrial water consumption in Beijing is estimated to reach 30%, and the proportion of recycled water will gradually increase to 40%..."

In other words, there is a high probability that the recycling and reuse rate of industrial wastewater and domestic wastewater will exceed 30%, or even reach 50%.

According to Hong Renquan, this was mentioned in the local development plan and was also highly praised by professionals in the industry.

"Although foreign countries keep talking about low-carbon and environmental protection, few have actually started to implement it, and most of them are just pretending. We started preparing more than ten years ago. Mr. Jin is a native of Beijing, and he should be able to understand that the sandstorms that occur several times a year have become less frequent now, and the bare mountains around have become much greener. In order to restore the green mountains and clear waters, a lot of price has been paid..."

"That's true!"

After recalling it, Jin Shang sincerely agreed with the other party's judgment.
"We must follow the path of sustainable development and avoid destructive development. In recent years, local environmental protection, water and soil resources, energy, and the protection of vegetation and wetlands have become increasingly stringent."

The Mama Ranch run by Zhang Yunying focuses on the integrated tertiary industry rather than the traditional agriculture, animal husbandry and heavy industry that involve heavy consumption and pollution. Even so, it took a long time to finally get approval.

The data center under Jinxi Culture is different. It consumes relatively less water, but its consumption of electricity is astonishingly high.

It is still relatively good now, but as industries such as artificial intelligence and big data flourish in the future, the demand for computing power will increase, and accordingly, energy consumption will also rise.

To put it bluntly, the information age has developed to its extreme, and countries with insufficient size cannot even get started. If they want to build data centers, cloud servers, edge computing, artificial intelligence and other application scenarios, they will need one-third to one-half of the total amount of electricity and energy support, or even more. This is an unbearable burden.

Large amounts of cheap electricity are the foundation of the information age.

Jinxi Culture plans to build the first phase of a data center in Beijing. After completion and operation, the annual operating costs will exceed 300 million yuan, of which 80% will be paid for water and electricity.

Guess what Beijing’s nominal GDP was last year?

The total amount announced to the public is around 200 billion!

Now a private enterprise plans to build a data center whose electricity bill will be more than 200 million yuan a year. Is this really against the will of heaven?
This is no longer a question of whether or not to alarm the local management department. Higher-level regulatory agencies have also frequently inquired about it, especially when it requires coordination among multiple parties, such as the laying of dedicated optical cables. I don't know how many people are concerned about it. People at Hao Qilian's level... can no longer handle it, and he has to report to his higher-ups and request approval.

In comparison, although environmental protection, water resources and energy are not easy to deal with, there are actually ways to solve them.

The two of them discussed and tried to find a solution, trying their best to get through the current hurdle.

Jin Shang pondered secretly in his mind, searching his mind for the memories of his previous life. Twenty years later, the population of the capital of his previous life was close to 22 million, almost reaching its carrying limit. The peak record of daily water consumption was about 3.6 million cubic meters.

It was because of this realization that Jin Shang felt that the data in this life seemed a little low.

However, considering the actual situation, there seems to be some clues to follow.

Today, the capital city is increasingly developing into a service-oriented metropolis as its urbanization process has not been interrupted by war.

Tourism and culture, food services, economic and trade account for a relatively high proportion, while heavy industry has a clear trend of evacuating to surrounding areas. The economic development in North China, Songnen, Jiaodong, Huaibei and other places is more balanced. There are even many industrial mining, coal, steel, petroleum, chemical and other industries that are focused on Beihai, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Northwest and other places with more superior resource conditions.

This will reduce the capital's energy and fresh water consumption, ease the pressure, and make a great contribution.

There is no doubt that looking at the entire motherland, there are still relatively poor areas and large regional disparities still exist, but in some traditionally developed cities, there has been a trend of capacity transfer and upgrading.

As industrial strength continues to increase, the trend of the Bohai Rim Economic Zone migrating and spreading northward and westward will become increasingly obvious.

In the previous life, it was more than a decade later that the concept of western development was first proposed, but in this world, this situation has always existed, it's just that it has been progressing extremely slowly in the past few decades.

"In short, 50,000 cubic meters a day is still too little. I think if we are going to do it, we should do it bigger. 600,000 cubic meters, is that okay?"

"You really dare to imagine that half of the water used in the capital... this is too exaggerated!"

After hearing Jin Shang's idea, Hong Renquan was shocked by his boldness.

"With this scale, if we don't consider industrial water use and use it sparingly, it can already meet the domestic water needs of millions, nearly 10 million people."

If countries in the desert areas of the Middle East or North Africa could have so much fresh water supply, they would certainly be more than happy to have it.

"It's half now, how can there be so much in the future? Besides..."

After a pause, Jin Shang said leisurely,

"Not all of it is for local supply. After all, the capital is not directly on the sea. I plan to focus on power plants and seawater desalination in the southeast..." Pingzhou Tanghai (Caofeidian) in the Jingu BHX District is the gateway to the east and southeast of the capital. It is not only an important industrial pillar in the capital region, but also an important agricultural and animal husbandry production base in the local area.

Let’s put it this way, the steel production in these places accounts for more than 20% of the world’s total, and in the future they may account for half of the world’s steel production.

Not only that, it is also the largest aluminum ingot production base in the country, and various alloys, industrial mining and metallurgical by-products provide impetus for the country's industrial development.

Naturally, these two places are also the areas with the highest energy consumption in the capital, and are also well-known in the entire Bohai Rim Economic Zone.

"Binhai New City and Tanghai, indeed, there is demand there. If there is a desalination plant with a daily output of hundreds of thousands of cubic meters, it will be like timely help."

Hong Renquan, who still disagreed, advised:
"Let me put it this way, Mr. Jin. The water consumption of a power station is generally between 700 and 1,500 liters per kilowatt-hour. The environment, water quality, coal, equipment, etc. will all affect efficiency. Think about it, a desalination plant with a daily output of 600,000 cubic meters, or... a power station that consumes such a large amount of water, produces so much electricity, can it use up all the energy?"

Well, given the current situation, Hong Renquan’s concerns are not unreasonable.

But Jin Shang, who is looking at things from a more advanced perspective, will naturally understand that no matter how much electricity there is, there will come a day when it is not enough.

Not only Lao Hong, the entire country, and even the whole world have underestimated the speed of domestic economic development and the terrifying energy consumption of data storage and computing power in the future information age.

Six hundred thousand square meters?

Don't be silly, even the fraction is not enough!
Just like before the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, the propaganda was that once it was completed, the national power shortage would be gone forever, and the era of power outages during the summer peak season would be over.

As a result, the consumption of only three or four provinces could be met, let alone the entire country.

It is not people’s fault that they are short-sighted today. It is because they underestimate the resilience of the Chinese people, underestimate the potential of the motherland, and even more underestimate the impact of the globalized market dominated by the World Trade Organization on this continent.

The motherland of this era has a vaster territory, richer resources, and a more solid foundation. As long as we advance steadily, we will unleash even more terrifying power.

Not to mention anything else, China occupies the entire black soil of Northeast China, dominates the northwest Pacific Ocean, and owns strategic locations such as the North Sea, the Iba Sea, and the middle and upper reaches of the Lena River and the Yenisei River. Oil and natural gas are difficult to exploit due to the harsh environment, but with the advancement of technology, the cost will continue to decrease.

The north is no longer in a dilemma where the capital is the only dominant force and is struggling to survive. Instead, there are several sub-centers worth developing. This will effectively alleviate the unbalanced situation of "the south is heavy and the north is light".

Although he didn't know the specific data, Jin Shang still had a vague impression in his mind. In his previous life, the first phase of the middle line of the "South-to-North Water Diversion" project was completed, and the average daily peak volume of fresh water transported to the capital did not exceed three million cubic meters.

This is not enough to alleviate the barrenness and alkalinity of the entire North China, replenish over-exploited groundwater, and restore the ecological balance.

In a word, for the capital, and even the entire hungry northern land, this amount of fresh water, no matter how much it is, will never be enough.

It is only natural that instead of letting precious water resources flow into the sea, it is better to use them more rationally.

Seeing Jin Shang's stubborn insistence, Hong Renquan sighed helplessly, and finally took a step back and said:

"The impact of 600,000 cubic meters per day is still too great. It is difficult to make up for this much water pumped out of a single place every day, even with sewage and wastewater treatment. I suggest that we start with a standard of less than 300,000 cubic meters, or 250,000 cubic meters."

After thinking about it, Jin Shang also felt that he shouldn't push too hard. Taking a long step at once could easily lead to accidents or even complications.

"Then... let's make a plan and budget based on this scale. However, we need to brag a lot first, and the investment amount cannot be small, so that we can take the initiative when negotiating with the local authorities. Phase one, phase two, phase three... we have to do it step by step."

"it is good!"

If this is the way to do it, it is still possible. Hong Renquan is not a timid and conservative person. The previous power stations and water plants were mainly for self-use, and the scale was small, which was normal. If a larger-scale joint factory is to be built, it must not be so petty.
"Let's talk about the specific route selection. The current mainstream power stations are thermal power plants, which burn coal, and gas power plants, which burn natural gas. Thermal power plants have low costs, but are more troublesome. Coal needs to be purchased in large quantities, and pollution and carbon emissions need to be dealt with. Relatively speaking, gas power plants have more advantages. The plant area is only half of that of a thermal power plant of the same size, and it is easy to realize automation. The maintenance staff is only a few tens of times that of a thermal power plant..."

"The former has cheaper fuel, while the latter saves time and labor and takes up less space?"

"Yes! It depends on Mr. Jin's considerations. Which one should he choose? Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. They are both good, but the by-products are different. As for water consumption, the main one is for boilers, followed by cooling. The latter is about one-third to one-half of the former. It depends on the equipment condition and specific conditions. Each has its own emphasis."

If you want to build a thermal power station, that is, to provide heating, although the overall efficiency is higher, the boiler's consumption of fresh water will be higher.

These differences are closely related to the general direction of the future and require Jin Shang to make the decision.

"I can't make a decision right now. I need to make initial contact with all parties and collect more information before making a decision. Personally, I prefer a thermal power plant. As for a gas power plant, it would be more appropriate to locate it further north..."

Cheap and large in quantity, not easily controlled by others.

Coal resources are relatively abundant energy minerals worldwide, with relatively small price fluctuations. Domestic reserves are also abundant. There are many underground in North China, so it just depends on transportation capacity and quality.

Its advantages are durability, mature technology, and gas power plants...

Jin Shang felt that it was a pity to directly burn the precious natural gas. This stuff was a precious chemical raw material and was needed in many places, especially in the production of agricultural necessities such as fertilizers.

Of course, it is still early to make a decision. Let’s put this plan forward first, and then get the data center’s approval as soon as possible, and achieve the goal step by step.

Power stations, seawater desalination plants and all kinds of integrated chemical operations require professional engineers to coordinate the design and arrangements. Jin Shang is not an expert in this area, so he has to find an expert to do it.

As for the details, Jin Shang did not give any specific instructions. He believed that Hong Renquan's level and his experienced team could do the job well.

"By the way, Mr. Jin, after I have settled this matter, can I prepare to retire?"

"what?"

Since Hong Renquan planned to retire, Jin Shangqiang has kept him here for nearly two years. It’s almost time, and it’s time to prepare for the handover.

(End of this chapter)