Chapter 1377 - 367: Energy Structure (Part 2)

Chapter 1377: Chapter 367: Energy Structure (Part 2)

East Africa’s coal reserves certainly exceed sixty billion tons; this figure is based on the data obtained under current technology and theoretical support by the East African Government.

As theories develop, technology progresses, and time moves on, more coal mines will surely be discovered in East Africa.

Minister Met remarked, "Apart from the constant increase in annually surveyed coal resources, the substitution of other energy sources also ensures the Empire’s long-term competition in the coal energy sector against other Great Powers."

"In fact, besides domestic coal mining within the Empire, the importation of foreign coal has already become a significant coal source for the Empire."

"In recent years, we have progressively increased coal imports from Colombia and Australia, and the coal production in the Empire’s colonies, especially in regions like Kalimantan and Mindanao Island, has also begun preliminary development."

Although East Africa’s coal resources, according to the understanding from Ernst’s past life, are not as abundant as those in the United States, Russia, or the Far East Empire of his previous life, East Africa’s vast land area has forcibly turned it into a major coal resource nation.

Based on publicly available data from his past life, over ninety percent of Africa’s coal production regions are located within East Africa, particularly in the central and southern areas of East Africa.

Minister Met said, "Although coal has lower combustion efficiency and higher pollution compared to other energy sources such as oil, its advantages cannot be replaced by other energies, especially in steel, metallurgy, and coal-gas technology sectors."

"Therefore, coal will continue to maintain its position as the primary energy source, and we have already formulated relevant plans to further expand the industrial applications related to coal. Particularly, research in coal-gas technology and coal-to-oil fields is steadily advancing."

Coal-to-oil technology was highly valued by countries lacking oil resources in his previous life, such as Germany, Japan, and South Africa, as well as the later Far East Empire.

Germany in his past life was the earliest to study coal-to-oil technology, but by the 21st century, the country that truly achieved large-scale promotion and application was South Africa. The reason why South Africa could become the most advanced country in this technology is indeed related to South Africa’s development. Since its liberalization, South Africa faced decades-long embargoes by Europe and America.

This included an oil embargo on South Africa, which itself was a country extremely deficient in oil resources, yet South Africa possessed the richest coal reserves in Africa, so under the leadership of the South African Government, coal-to-oil technology achieved breakthrough and development.

This is why the Far East Empire in his past life was constantly talking about energy security, although East Africa, through colonial expansion, has escaped the predicament of lacking oil resources.

However, domestic oil resources in East Africa are sparse and mostly located in the northern regions, while although overseas colonies are rich in oil resources, their geographical locations are not secure, so East Africa has never ceased efforts in researching coal-to-oil technology.

This technology was actually studied by the East African Government since the 1990s, however, as current oil acquisition channels became more diversified, the progress has slowed down.

The current focus of East Africa is indeed coal-gas technology; to a certain extent, coal-to-oil belongs to coal-gas technology, though mainly addressing energy issues, while coal-gas technology involves a variety of sectors, capable of producing numerous chemical products, with a vast market potential.

Minister Met said, "The coal industry is one of the crucial foundations of East Africa’s economic development, especially in important sectors like steel, metallurgy, chemicals, and electricity, so we will continually promote its technical development."

"And oil is presently the Empire’s second-largest fossil energy source; since the beginning of this century, the Empire has been the world’s largest refined oil producer."

"In 1918, the Empire’s refined oil production reached over three hundred million barrels, surpassing the combined production of other countries worldwide."

"In public transportation, machinery, automobiles, and chemicals, the petroleum industry plays a supportive role. It’s fair to say that the development of the petroleum industry is a crucial force driving our emerging industries."

Currently, global oil production is concentrated in four regions: East Africa, North America, Eastern Europe, and lastly South America. These four areas account for over ninety percent of global oil production, while alone, East Africa occupies more than seventy percent of refined oil production.

Minister Met remarked, "The contribution of petroleum energy to the development of the Empire’s industry even exceeds that of coal, especially in emerging industries; without oil, there wouldn’t be significant growth in chemical industry, railroads, automobiles, etc."

"Without the development of the oil industry, our country will forever remain in many fields as merely a follower of Europe and America, rather than an innovator."

"Take the railroads, for example, the advent of internal combustion locomotives significantly improved our railway transportation efficiency. Merely copying Europe and America would mean simply replicating on the railway level."

"Regarding the automobile industry, it goes without saying; it directly changed the global transportation industry structure, propelling East Africa’s economic development onto the fast track. Combined with railroads, it further secures the Empire’s terrestrial transportation efficiency as the world’s leader."

"The chemical industry’s dependency on oil is also enormous. Presently, the petrochemical industry is already quite large, yielding substantial profits with immense potential, possibly driving our technology and industry beyond Europe and America."

"Besides coal and oil, the most important is hydropower. As an energy source, electricity production is rather complex; coal, oil, and natural gas can all serve as raw materials for power generation."