this man is not calm

Chapter 455 Summary
The so-called inadequate infrastructure mainly refers to the transportation of methanol fuel and the scarcity of filling stations.

As we all know, the domestic energy structure is mainly coal-based, supplemented by oil and natural gas. The proven reserves are considerable in total, but the quality is average. For example, the quality of coal is not high and contains a lot of impurities, but the cost is higher than that of high-quality coal in North America and Australia.

The same is true for oil and natural gas. They are difficult to mine, have complex properties, and require extremely high refining technology. This is the case in Northeast China, the Jiaodong Peninsula, Southwest China, and the Plateau. The better quality ones are either found in the permafrost of North Asia or thousands of meters under the sea, so the cost cannot be reduced at all.

It is a pity that such "feng shui treasure lands" as North Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean Sea, where oil automatically oozes out and gathers into large lakes. The oil does not need to be refined and can be directly added to car tanks. However, in such a vast country, there is not a single one.

The reality is that the raw material for domestic methanol synthesis is basically coal. The few filling stations are all located in provinces with large coal energy resources, such as Jiangnan, Central China, Lingnan, Jianghuai and North China. In most provinces, there is no methanol filling station open to the public, so naturally there is no basis for the existence of methanol vehicles.

In some parts of the north, the winters are very cold, and alcohol-based fuels generally have the weakness of poor cold start performance. Alcohol-oil flexible-fuel vehicles need to redesign their engines and upgrade their materials to resist the corrosion damage of alcohol-based fuels.

As the cost goes up, cars that run on methanol and ethanol will definitely be more expensive, and ordinary car owners will be even less interested in using them.

Passing by one intersection after another, Jin Toki couldn't help but sigh as he watched the scattered passers-by outside the car window watching the strange sports car whizzing by:

"It's understandable that young people like new things, but just have fun with them and don't take them too seriously."

"I feel like I can play for a few more years. It's quite exciting, and... maybe there is a future for it."

"Where is the future in it? It runs fast, makes a lot of noise, and looks cool, but what other advantages does it have? I heard that this car costs more than 600,000 yuan, which is too expensive. You bought several of them at once, and you invited others to test drive them. Do you really think it will be successful?"

"I have money, and it's not like I'm throwing it away. I have a few cars anyway. I can rent them to the company for receptions, isn't that great?"

"There are obviously better and more cost-effective ones."

Jin Shi is not complaining that he shouldn't spend money, but he thinks Jin Shang shouldn't spend money recklessly. He can obviously buy more luxury cars that are inexpensive and affordable, and high-end and classy. Isn't that good?
Panda Automobile is not considered a top brand in China and has never entered the luxury car market. This time, it has taken a different approach and made an alcohol-oil flexible-fuel vehicle. The materials used should be solid and the quality must be good. This is an ambitious work to gain popularity and will certainly not be taken lightly.

However, after more than a year on the market, sales are very few, which shows that people's perception of Panda is still at the level of making sturdy motorcycles and pickup trucks, and they do not approve of the private cars it produces.

"Just give it a try. It won't cost much money anyway. If I really think it has a future, I'll buy the car model and technology and open a factory myself..."

"Come on, making cars is not an easy thing. The industry structure has been stabilized, and it is difficult for new players to stand out. In the past decade or so, there have been challengers, but most of them ended in failure. This industry is too complicated..."

"I know! Anyway, we are not going to start in the next few years. We don't have that much money. With tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of dollars invested every year, if we can have something going for five years and have a firm foothold in ten years, that would be great."

"Okay, I know I can't persuade you, but it's a little strange. What attracts you to this thing?"

Jin Shi stopped trying to persuade him and asked curiously,

“Does it have a highly efficient engine, long range, or other advantages?”

"nothing!"

Jin Shang answered very frankly,

"Methanol has a very low calorific value. For example, this car can only run less than 300 kilometers after being filled with methanol. This is the top-of-the-line car with the best performance. Other models can only run a little over 200 kilometers! Methanol is indeed much cheaper than gasoline for the same volume, but when compared with the fuel consumption of the same mileage, methanol still has an advantage, but it is not particularly large. Don't be fooled by the high power of methanol cars, which is based on the rapid consumption of fuel. Methanol contains more oxygen than gasoline, and burns more fully and quickly..."

No matter whether it is methanol, ethanol or a mixture of methanol and oil, drivers generally think that "not being able to burn well" is normal, and insufficient power is a rumor or illusion. The claim that it will damage the engine, corrode sealing parts and reduce their lifespan is not worth believing. FFVs (flexible-fuel vehicles) that burn mixed fuels are specially designed and modified, and the technology is very mature. There is no such defect, and there is absolutely no problem with normal use.

As for whether it is cost-effective, if gasoline with methanol or ethanol added is sold at the same price as regular gasoline, and you spend about the same amount of money but get a shorter mileage, then it would definitely be a loss.

If it were a little cheaper, it wouldn't be unacceptable.

Listening to his son's talk, Jin Toki asked unexpectedly:

"Since you know this, why bother with all this trouble? It's thankless. Those who can afford a car don't care about the difference in fuel prices, and those who can't afford it... forget it."

"Gasoline prices are cheap now, but what about in the future? If one day the price goes up to seven, eight, nine or even ten dollars, can we really not care?"

"Is it that exaggerated? I just passed by a gas station and checked. It's only 2.1 yuan, right? 10 yuan? Come on, I don't think I'll ever see the day when the domestic gasoline price rises to 8 yuan. You have to know that the international crude oil price, domestic crude oil price and refined oil price are not completely correlated..."

The price of bulk crude oil has increased tenfold, but the price of gasoline may not necessarily increase tenfold. The reasons are very complicated, and the supply and demand relationship, transportation prices, refining technology, taxes and subsidies have a huge impact, to name a few.

If calculated based on the current situation, if gasoline prices increase fourfold, international crude oil prices may rise to around US$130, more than tenfold.

"Even if there is another energy war, the price won't rise that much, so don't worry about it."

Upon hearing this, Jin Shang did not forcefully defend himself. He chuckled twice and said slowly:

"Although you are a smart man, your understanding of the international situation, domestic development potential and speed, global energy structure and supply and demand changes is too superficial. It's just like bragging after drinking too much. Don't talk about these topics in the future, so as to avoid embarrassment in the future."

Men, when they drink too much, know everything about everything, from ancient times to the present, from China to the West, and from five thousand years ago. They can talk about everything under the sun and give advice on how to fight. Even if Guan Zhong and Zhuge Liang were resurrected, they would probably be better than him.

It's hard to overestimate how much insight he has. "What's wrong?"

"To be honest, you're still not convinced! Let's put it this way. If the GDP of this country with a population of more than one billion in the future grows rapidly at a rate of more than 10% per year, it will become the number one manufacturing giant in 20 years. During this process, the demand for coal, steel, oil and natural gas will be almost endless. In this case, won't several major oil, coal and natural gas exporting countries take the opportunity to make a fortune? You have to know that we don't have much international bargaining power. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), referred to as 'OPEC' (OPEC), you should learn more about it..."

"This... Of course I know, but are they that powerful? It's just a loose international monopoly organization in the form of a 'cartel'..."

"The game between major powers is not that simple."

Jin Shang smiled and shook his head and said no more. For some things, once they start, the process and the result are almost the same. That's human nature. A very small number of people or groups may have decision-making deviations, but when it is magnified to the global level, some trends are almost unstoppable.

After calming down and thinking for a while, Jin Shi suddenly realized something:
"The 'energy structure' you just mentioned, is it implying 'energy security'? It is the same as 'food security', so the staple food should be dispersed, and we can't put all the 'eggs' in one 'basket'. The same is true for energy. We have it ourselves, but we don't need to exploit it on a large scale and exhaust the resources. We also don't need to completely reject external inputs. Instead, we need to spread the risks. From this perspective, the so-called 'new energy', electric cars, methanol cars, etc., are all implementing this development forecast?"

"I finally figured it out! Cars are important, but do we really have to build them ourselves? As long as we control the supply of powertrains and key components and the most profitable ones, it doesn't matter who assembles them. Electric cars, fuel cells, wind power, photovoltaics, methanol cars, hydrogen energy, and fuel substitution, after all, are all development directions along the same route..."

"However, methanol is defined domestically as just a fuel alternative, not a key development direction for new energy."

Indeed, internationally, fuels such as methanol, ethanol and natural gas are classified as clean energy, but it is different in China. Methanol is still regarded as a fossil fuel and is not the most promising direction.

Referring to the above objective conditions, it can be concluded that the domestic production of methanol still mainly relies on coal chemical industry, which consumes a lot of energy and water, and is not necessarily very safe and clean.

Methanol is toxic and is classified as a hazardous chemical. Whether it is manufacturing, transporting or operating, corresponding qualifications are required. In this regard, we have to say that CSSC Electromechanical is truly a treasure trove. It has many supporting factories and has a full range of qualifications. If you don't have them, it would be very convenient for Jin Shang to ask Lao Huang to help fill them in.

In this line of business, if you don't have a million or eighty thousand to pave the way, you can't even find a way in. Those franchisees who use all kinds of rhetoric, such as alcohol-based fuel and methanol gasoline, claim that the profit is very high and that you can start your own business with an investment of tens of thousands of dollars and two or three people, are all scammers, without exception.

Petrochemicals, energy and electricity, and hazardous chemicals management, are they something you can do if you want to?

Many powerful industrial bosses can't get it. Jin Shang spent a lot of effort to obtain the qualification for private oil refining and the operating rights of a large oil storage tank project. He only got it done after Lao Huang stepped in and made a call. It's so difficult for the top "second-generation rich" people, so ordinary people without some connections should forget about it.

Back to the fact that methanol fuel is not a clean energy, not only it, but natural gas is not a clean energy either. To put it bluntly, it is still due to the national conditions. After comprehensive consideration, it is indeed not convincing enough to define it as a new energy.

but……

“If the raw material for mass production of methanol is no longer coal, will there be something to talk about?”

"Hmm? You mean..."

Jin Shi seemed to understand something. He did not let his father wonder for too long and said calmly:
"Do you know why I built sewage treatment plants, circulating water recycling systems, fermentation tanks, biogas storage tanks, plastic recycling plants, waste cardboard recycling centers, and even fertilizer plants, cement plants, brick and tile plants, and ceramic tile plants to process garbage sintering waste? All this is to maximize the use of resource recycling waste. Their common feature is that they consume a lot of electricity. Coincidentally, the future 'smart city' center has no shortage of electricity and is very rich..."

"That makes sense. We can certainly try to include methanol-fueled vehicles as one of the key areas of support for new energy."

According to Jin Shang, the source of methanol is not fossil energy, but an environmental protection project of waste recycling and secondary utilization. It is also one of the key energy storage methods for photovoltaic and wind power.

Strictly speaking, electrical energy is almost an energy source that cannot be stored. It can only be converted into mechanical energy, chemical energy, etc. and stored stably. This is true for flywheel energy storage, pumped storage, compressed air energy storage, battery energy storage, etc.

In fact, as hydrogen energy is gaining more and more attention internationally, converting unstable energy sources such as wind power and photovoltaics into combustible gases such as hydrogen energy (especially hydrogen), then transporting it to where it is needed through pipelines or other means, and releasing the energy using fuel cells or other means has always been a key research direction in the energy field.

Since local consumption of electricity generated by new energy sources and converting it into hydrogen for storage can be considered as one of the directions, why not methanol?

At least methanol is safer than hydrogen, does not have the serious "hydrogen embrittlement" problem, is easy to store and transport, is convenient to use, and the technology is very mature.

In addition, methanol is also one of the key research and development directions of fuel cells. For example, in the solid oxide fuel cells that have been tested in the "Smart Park", methanol is one of the most anticipated alternative fuels.

Even better, methanol can be produced by pyrolysis and hydrolysis of waste plastics, wood, straw and fruit shells using a catalyst. The most energy-intensive part is high-temperature heating and distillation, and a combined heat and power system can fully meet this requirement.

The cost of doing so is higher than that of producing electricity from fossil fuels such as coal, but the electricity generated by new energy power plants cannot be used up in the first place, and there will be more and more in the future. Instead of wasting it, it is better to convert it into chemical energy and store it.

Solving two problems at the same time is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone. If this approach is proven to be feasible, why not give it a try?

"Not only methanol, I plan to try out the above suggestions in the field of alcohol-oil fuel, accumulate fuel cell technology at the same time, and develop methanol fuel and electric vehicle hybrid range extension technology. There is still a long way to go from the laboratory to commercialization, but... we can first lay out a plan to test the waters and take it one step at a time."

"You... have so many ideas, and each one of them is a 'grand event'. Are you so sure that you can keep pace with the international situation and energy direction?"

“Don’t rush to get out. First, explore the industry as a supplier and a partner of technical solutions.”

Methanol new energy hybrid was a trend that had never become mainstream in his previous life, so it stands to reason that there should not be much hope. However, after getting deeper into the competitive landscape of the business world in this life, Jin Shang increasingly felt that the general trend was difficult to change, the direction could not be reversed, but the details might not be exactly the same.

It's not that plasma screens are completely unable to compete with LCDs, it's not necessarily that Xiaolingtong has no chance of breaking through, and Fetion is not doomed to fail. Methanol cars didn't make any waves in their previous life, not because of poor technology, but because they were born at the wrong time and their entry techniques were too crude.

After experiencing the thrill of "going against the will of heaven", Jin Shang felt that it was necessary for him to do something "interesting" when he had spare energy, so as to bring more interesting changes to the world.

(End of this chapter)