It's normal to develop some black technology in the future, right?

Chapter 461: Is there any link from top to bottom that does not require the use of electricity?
The medieval-decorated study fell into an unspeakable silence, and McFall stared at the portrait of Lord Osborne I hanging above the mantelpiece without saying a word.

Before coming, he would never have thought that Baron Osborne would offer such conditions.

Such an easy-to-do, yet impossible condition to agree to.

McFall opened his mouth and said, “It was McDonald who humiliated you with the Little Red Book at that time. We can ask him to do this alone.

This is too much for all members of the House of Lords.”

Baron Osborne shook his head and said, “No, this condition couldn’t be simpler.

I'm just writing a book review. If they don't even agree to such a simple condition, how can I believe that England has made up its mind to look east this time?

If you don't even understand the ideas in Xiaohongshu, how can you fully understand my thinking logic in our subsequent cooperation with China?
If we don't agree to even this small condition, how are we going to explain the arrogant white people at the bottom when facing a new situation of friendly relations with China in the future?

What they are doing to Indian immigrants now may turn their hostility towards the Chinese in the not too distant future.

By that time, England is hostile to the Chinese but is on good terms with China. Can this convince the Chinese side?
To use a phrase from Little Red Book, we start from the desire for unity, resolve contradictions through criticism or struggle, and thus achieve new unity on a new basis.

Baron McFaul was shocked by Baron Osborne's casual quotation of Xiaohongshu's remarks: "Do you really read it?" He thought, no wonder he hated MacDonald so much, the greatest humiliation is to tell the truth.

Lies don't hurt people, the truth is the sharp sword.

But then he felt happy again. As the saying goes, understanding is the prerequisite for achieving cooperation. The more Baron Osborne understands China, the smoother it will be for Baron Osborne to negotiate cooperation with China on behalf of England in the future.

Those who are close to China must know China first.

In Baron McFaul's opinion, Baron Osborne's knowledge of China far exceeds that of other European politicians.

“Of course, so I can go back to London, but the prerequisite is that you agree to my request.

Baron McFaul, before you came, the Norwegian Sovereign Fund had already sent me an invitation letter, inviting me to serve as their vice president in charge of China business. If London does not agree to my conditions within a week, then I will accept this invitation.

Besides, I know what the members of the House of Lords are worried about, and the only condition I can compromise is that they do not require the family seal on the book review they write. "

McFaul did not persuade him any further. As for the matter of the Norwegian sovereign fund, he did not doubt at all that Baron Osborne was lying.

Because at this moment when thunderbolts struck China out of nowhere, Baron Osborne's identity did have such value. In the past, he also served as a consultant for BlackRock Fund, so it was natural for him to enter the financial circle.

"Well, I can't guarantee that the members of the House of Lords will agree." Baron McFall stood up and left.

The baron stood at the gate of Baron Osborne's manor, turned his head to look at the location of Baron Osborne's study, and when he turned his head back, his face was full of loss.

He knew exactly what Osborne wanted, and he also knew that this condition would be difficult for the barons in the House of Lords to agree to.

Members of the House of Commons might say yes because they are bureaucrats.

Not the members of the House of Lords, they are aristocrats.

Compared to bureaucrats, it is very difficult to convince nobles. Bureaucrats pay more attention to practical interests and political trade-offs. The nobles, who are arrogant and conservative in their bones, will not compromise so easily.

What Baron Osborne wants is to vent his anger on the surface, but in reality he wants everyone to give him a token of allegiance.

It doesn’t matter if the family seal is not used. A letter of surrender without the seal is still a letter of surrender.

The sky in London in May was covered by a thick lead curtain, so dull that it was almost suffocating, just like Baron McFall's mood at the moment.

This is a token of allegiance.

"Let us welcome Baron Osborne, the most far-sighted man in all of England!" Andrew Neil was very happy. Recent events not only proved that Baron Osborne had vision, but also proved that he himself had vision.

As mentioned earlier, Lord Osborne is a regular guest on a political talk show on Channel 4, The Andrew Neil Show.

Who is Andrew Neil? He is a veteran journalist. He became the editor-in-chief of The Times as early as 1983 and served in the position for more than ten years. He later hosted a series of news programs.

Neil's brilliant resume has made him a very influential figure in news programmes in England.

You have to know that it is not just the people in 10 Downing Street who dislike Baron Osborne. People in the media also dislike Baron Osborne.

Because when he was chancellor of the exchequer, he personally handled the BBC television license fee agreement, which stipulates that the BBC must bear the television license fees for people over the age of 75. According to the Guardian's estimates, this will mean that the BBC will lose nearly 20% of its revenue.

Later, when Boris was at 10 Downing Street, he tried hard to arrange for Baron Osborne to become the chairman of the BBC, but in the end it failed, which had a lot to do with the BBC television license fee agreement.

As the helmsman of a rotten ship like the British Empire, if you want to do something or make changes, you will definitely touch some cakes, affect some people's interests, and then offend some people.

Osborne's enemies are spread across politics and the media, essentially because he has affected the interests of too many people in the past.

Only "The Andrew Lloyd Show" jumped from a BBC program to Channel 4. Otherwise, even with Andrew's support, Baron Osborne would not be able to continue to be a permanent guest.

The coincidence among coincidences is that Osborne reduced the BBC's income, and the BBC had to cut its budget due to the reduced income. The budget cuts led to the cancellation of The Andrew Neil Show, which then moved to Channel 4 and Osborne became a permanent guest on it.

This is a cycle.

It’s not that this position is lucrative, but I don’t want him to have the opportunity to continue to speak to the public. If you want to speak, go ahead and record a podcast. You can speak however you want.

But forget about the old media platforms like radio and television, which are so important in an old-school country like England.

Thanks to Andrew's life, Osborne was able to continue staying in London and have his own small piece of land.

"Neil, if I am the most far-sighted man in England, then you are the second most far-sighted man in England," Baron Osborne teased.

You were able to withstand the pressure and keep me here, but others might not be able to do so.

"Okay, enough joking, let's look at the explosive news of the past two days. On May 5, the 5th anniversary of Karl Marx's birth, China announced that it had achieved commercial verification of controlled nuclear fusion, and on the evening of May 210, Guangjia Aerospace's WeChat public account opened reservations for the controlled nuclear fusion experience hall. This news was like a magnitude 5 earthquake, which had a drastic and direct impact on the world. First of all, on the Japanese side, Japan's announcement of joining the American Academic Alliance was the unilateral act of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Minister's actions must be strictly investigated.

According to the latest breaking news from the Asahi Shimbun, on the evening of May 5, Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Toshiko Abe committed suicide at her home in Chiyoda Ward, leaving behind a suicide note expressing her guilt.

As for Goryeo, the latest poll conducted by Goryeo in the early morning of May 5 showed that the support rate for the current President Lee Jae-myung exceeded 6%, reaching a new high since he took office, sweeping away the haze of past emergencies on the Korean Peninsula.

In Brussels, the European Parliament unanimously passed a resolution not to join the liberal academic alliance led by America."

After a long series of news briefings, Andrew asked: "Baron, we all know that controlled nuclear fusion is considered to exist in science fiction works and has always been ignored by everyone because it seems impossible to achieve in reality.

In recent years, the focus of the outside world in the field of science and technology has been on artificial intelligence and commercial aerospace, and few people have focused on controlled nuclear fusion.

But there is no doubt that the impact of the breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion technology on mankind is more direct and stronger.

The idea of ​​unlimited and cheap energy alone is enough to create room for imagination.

Lord Osborne, can you briefly talk about this based on your understanding of the technology and your understanding of China?"

You have to prepare before going on the show.

Moreover, compared with May 5, the news has at least fermented twice, and all parties have obtained similar data. Baron Osborne seems to be confident and well prepared.

"I would like to talk about this first. Since China achieved a technological breakthrough in the field of room-temperature superconductivity, all scientists know that the time for achieving controlled nuclear fusion will be greatly advanced.

Because room-temperature superconducting technology is like an accelerator.

It’s just that scientists cannot estimate how long it will take. Neither academia nor industry can predict how many years it will take now.

Especially after adding Wright as a variable, it becomes even more unpredictable.”

What Baron Osborne did not say explicitly was that American-led public opinion was causing the entire world to deliberately ignore this matter, deliberately ignoring the help that room-temperature superconductivity can provide for controlled nuclear fusion.

"In the past, everyone thought it would take 50 years, but even with room-temperature superconductivity, it might take 20 years.

Compared with artificial intelligence and commercial aerospace, which have already brought changes to our lives, it is indeed further away.

However, the concept of technological breakthrough achieved by China this time is different.

First of all, it is certainly not yet ready for large-scale commercial use.

A Q value greater than 30 is remarkable, which means that the cost of nuclear fusion power generation will be controlled at 0.3 yuan per kilowatt-hour, while China's photovoltaic power generation cost is 0.2 yuan per kilowatt-hour.

In terms of economic benefits, its current cost is higher than photovoltaics.

Therefore, it is still far from large-scale commercial use.

Even a considerable distance.

Because 0.3 yuan is the theoretical cost, this cost is not the actual cost, while photovoltaic power generation is the actual cost.

China did not mention how much electricity it discharged during its 300-second duration, but as far as I know, the total energy discharged was 43750 kWh. Based on the average daily electricity consumption of 10 kWh per household, a single discharge can meet the daily electricity needs of 4375 households.

That is to say, 300 seconds of discharge can meet the needs of 4000 households.

However, its fusion reaction must ensure stable power output even within 300 seconds, rather than in the form of instantaneous pulses. It has very high requirements for supporting equipment, including corresponding superconducting fault current limiters and solid-state transformers.

Therefore, its actual cost will definitely be greater than 0.3 yuan. Coupled with a series of work such as safety, stability, and transformation to the power grid, China still needs time, and it is still some distance away from large-scale commercialization.

Of course, this time will not be too long. Three to five years should be enough for China.

In three to five years, we will be able to see nuclear fusion power stations with full advantages from China.

Thanks to the existence of room-temperature superconducting materials, the entire tokamak device can be very small, perhaps even smaller than a basketball court. Its power generation cost is similar to that of traditional nuclear power, but its construction cost may be only one hundredth of that of a traditional nuclear power plant, or even lower.

This will completely change the current energy network situation.

And this is only the first generation of nuclear fusion power stations in China. For the second generation, with the increase of Q value and the increase of power generation time, the cost of power generation will drop further. It is possible to drop to less than 0.001 yuan within ten years, which is equivalent to free of charge.

This is based on the premise that China is willing to export controlled nuclear fusion devices. If China is unwilling to export the device, then China's advantage in manufacturing will be unmatched by other countries. "

Osborne's answer was both professional and easy to understand, which was just the right level of difficulty for the English.

But it's still a bit obscure and people don't quite understand what it means.

"I still don't quite understand. Energy is only part of it. Can it make other countries' manufacturing industries unable to compete with China?" Nelson asked.

Lord Osborne nodded and said, “That’s right.

Energy is indeed only a part of it, but the cost of all materials in the upstream and downstream of the industry includes energy.

It is not a single advantage, it is a compound advantage. It is like if we want to build a robot. The robot is composed of parts. When I assemble the robot, I need to use various automated equipment, and electricity is needed to assemble it.

At the same time, the manufacture of parts and components also requires electricity, and even the mining and smelting of the most basic raw materials of parts and components, metals, also require energy.

If we only consider the power consumption of robot assembly, China's cost advantage may be 10%. However, if we add together the costs of upstream components and even upstream materials, the cost advantage may reach 50%.

If we consider the current development of battery technology, the cost of mineral shipping will also decrease as more and more ships are powered by electricity. The cost of mining will also decrease as more and more electric-powered equipment is used.

From upstream mining and transportation to smelting and forging, and then to component molding and assembly, electricity, or energy, is used in every link of the entire process.”

(End of this chapter)