Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 384: Using the Circuit to Go Far, "Huang Ming Zu Xun" Records a Note [Request for Subscription]

"In 2024, we experienced the hottest summer in recorded human history. The abnormally high temperatures caused electricity loads in 17 provinces across the country to break historical records one after another."

"At that time, the first thing that could help people alleviate electricity shortages was coal-fired power plants..."

As the narration continues, a modern coal-fired power plant appears in the video.

At night, you can see the coal-fired power plant's tall buildings brightly lit, with chimneys standing tall, releasing thick white smoke. It looks much larger than the Beijing Thermal Power Plant.

Next, the video talked about the advantages of coal-fired power, such as flexible power generation, on-demand generation, and less restricted by terrain. As long as the coal can be transported in, power generation can be achieved.

But coal power also has its drawbacks.

"Whenever coal is burned, dust and various greenhouse gases are produced. So for a long time, people have been trying to find ways to make coal clean, completely clean."

"For example, when burning, coal can be mixed with straw, ammonia, etc. to reduce coal consumption at the source."

"For example, when generating electricity, we can make coal-fired units more efficient. Can you guess how much coal this coal-fired generator needs to generate one kilowatt-hour of electricity?"

In the video, the camera is focused on a small piece of coal next to a group of high-tech generators in the power plant.

Zhu Xiongying felt that this piece of coal was probably no bigger than a child's fist.

As an outstanding student who graduated from the Ohondo, he had a certain idea of ​​how much 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity was. He also understood the principles of thermal power generation. At this moment, he couldn't help but wonder: Can such a small piece of coal really generate kilowatt-hour of electricity?

"The answer is 256g, which is equivalent to the weight of half a bottle of mineral water."

"For example, the flue gas it emits can be separated and purified to produce food-grade carbon dioxide, or it can be collected and directly injected underground, sealing the flue gas while also driving out the oil."

This was not the first time Liu Kuan had watched this video, but when he saw this again, his eyes twitched slightly.

I thought: Food-grade carbon dioxide? That's a fantastic description.

The video later mentioned that China is gradually replacing thermal power generation with clean energy such as wind power, hydropower, and solar power, and the proportion has reached one-third.

However, clean energy also has its weaknesses.

The video screen changes, and tall windmills full of technology stand on the coastal mudflats, grasslands and Gobi Desert. Then huge solar panels are revealed on the Gobi Desert.

"The development of clean energy, including wind power, is not always smooth sailing, because the availability of light and wind for power generation depends entirely on the weather, while the amount of hydropower depends on the wet and dry seasons of rivers."

"Therefore, clean energy is inherently fluctuating, random, and intermittent. Once it is connected to the grid, it is very likely to cause a shock to the power system."

"Then is it possible to invent a large battery that can store excess electricity during peak periods and then send it out during low periods? Wouldn't that turn instability into stability?"

The video showed another scene that shocked the Zhu family.

On a plain with many windmills standing tall, there is a group of factories. In the yard of each factory, there are dozens of rectangular white boxes more than one meter tall.

The worker opened one of the boxes and found wires, electronic components, etc. inside.

Through the explanation, we learned that these large white boxes are actually "batteries"!
People like Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma didn't know much about batteries and were not that shocked. However, Zhu Tan, Zhu Xiongying and others who had made simple batteries with Liu Kuan in the natural science experiment class were extremely shocked at this time.

I thought, how can batteries be made so big?

Moreover, in order to store clean electricity such as wind power, later generations actually created such a "battery factory", which is really imaginative!

"In addition to combining these small batteries into super batteries, scientists with great imagination have also invented a variety of giant power banks."

"This is the world's highest water body power bank. By pumping water to a high place, the electrical energy is converted into the gravitational potential energy of the water and stored."

The video first shows a 3D model, followed by a video of the actual project.

Seeing this, people like Lao Zhu who didn't know much about physics were just shocked, but Liu Kuan's students like Zhu Tan and Zhu Xiongying were amazed and stared at it.

Zhu Tan couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "What a fantastic idea! This idea is truly fantastic! It's brilliant!"

This kind of praise, on the contrary, made people like Zhu and Zhu Biao, who didn't quite understand it, feel itchy.

Then, the video shows another 3D animation demonstration. "This is the nation's first gravity-powered power bank. By moving the gravity block to a higher location, it converts electrical energy into gravitational potential energy and stores it..."

Afterwards, the video talked about various energy storage methods, such as "non-regenerative air charging bank" and "converting electricity into hydrogen".

Old Zhu and Empress Ma basically couldn't understand it. Some outstanding students of the main hall, such as Zhu Tan and Zhu Xiongying, could understand it, but some of them didn't understand it very well either.

Various incredible methods and technologies of electricity storage appeared one after another, almost making the Zhu family numb with surprise.

The video then entered the last segment before the end, with the subtitle "The Mission of the Power Grid."

The video first showed the images of the Three Gorges Dam in later generations, as well as the scene of the gates being opened to release water.

"The Three Gorges Project is the world's largest water conservancy project."

"But few people know that in addition to this magnificent dam, those seemingly inconspicuous transmission towers and power lines on a nearby hilltop have also created another unprecedented Chinese miracle."

"When they connect the Three Gorges Dam with Jiangsu, the Three Gorges Dam with Shanghai, and the Three Gorges Dam with Guangdong, they also become the first interconnection channel between the State Grid and the Southern Grid..."

The video then spends another five minutes describing the construction of China's power grid in later generations, the efforts made to solve various power transmission and regulation problems, and the miraculous power transmission projects left on the land.

Seeing this, Old Zhu finally understood why when he asked Liu Kuan how long it would take for all the people in the Ming Dynasty to have access to electricity, Liu Kuan hesitantly gave the answer of at least sixty years.

Judging from the electricity-related problems revealed in this video, the Ming Dynasty may not be able to provide electricity to all its people even in another hundred years, let alone sixty years.

After all, delivering electricity to some places with dangerous mountains and rivers really requires overcoming numerous difficulties and dangers.

As Zhu Yuanzhang was feeling emotional, the video came to an end.

"Seeing this, you'll realize that to provide electricity to 14 billion people, we need not only increasingly cleaner power plants, but also more innovative energy storage power stations, and a comprehensive upgrade of the power grid."

"It's hard to imagine that 70 years ago, even if we tried our best, each person could only get 9 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. Today, that's only enough for three days."

"At that time, we just wanted to make electricity accessible to more people, so it took us 29 years to finally achieve universal access to electricity in large and medium-sized cities."

"Later, we wanted to provide electricity to all people in the country, so it took another 37 years to finally light up every city and every village, making us the only country in the world with nationwide electricity."

"Today, we also want to make electricity more convenient and cleaner for everyone, so this nationwide power system upgrade has already begun!"

"According to the plan, the entire China will complete this upgrade by 2045, but that still won't be enough..."

The end of the video tells the history of electricity development in the later Xin Dynasty and the future prospects in the electricity sector. This undoubtedly made the Zhu family more shocked and impressed by the development and construction capabilities of the later Xin Dynasty.

When the video ended, Zhu Yuanzhang came back to his senses and couldn't help but sigh: "It's not easy for people to master the use of electricity, but it's even more difficult to let the people use electricity."

Zhu Biao nodded in agreement, "Indeed."

Zhu Yuanzhang added, "If we want to develop the Ming Dynasty to the point where all citizens have access to electricity, I'm afraid it will take dozens or even hundreds of years of construction to achieve this."

"From now on, we must make a note of this in the Imperial Ming Dynasty Ancestor's Instructions, so that future emperors will not slack off and strive to complete the feat of electrifying the entire country."

Liu Kuan endured it and didn't say anything in the end.

What he was thinking at this moment was that the territory of the Ming Dynasty in this time and space would be so huge that it would be many times more difficult to achieve nationwide electrification than in later China.

However, if the successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty had insisted on developing electricity, even if it could not be realized in the Ming Dynasty, it would have been a contribution to the people in the future.

Paying attention to the development and construction of national infrastructure is a good thing in any era.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang chatted with Zhu Biao and other princes such as Zhu Ying and Zhu Tan about the things in the video, such as those fantastic methods of storing electricity, and then asked Liu Kuan to play the next video.

When Liu Kuan played the second video, the title also caught everyone's eyes...

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)