Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 95: Chapter 89: Generators and Electric Motors

It turns out good things truly come in pairs.

Shortly after the signing of the Ceuta Peace Treaty, Carlo received more good news: Graham’s electricity laboratory, after months of effort, successfully built both an AC generator and a DC generator.

Carlo was not at all surprised by the speed at which the electricity laboratory manufactured the generators.

Back in France, Graham had already built both types of generators and was quite adept with the principles and the exact manufacturing process.

Even though he was now in Spain, with Carlo’s strong support and some former colleagues from France, the speed of manufacturing generators would not slow down—it would even accelerate.

After all, the earliest generators didn’t have overly intricate equipment, and considering they were small experimental generators, building such a generator posed no difficulty for Graham.

Carlo was quite thrilled to learn that the generators had been successfully manufactured.

Even though today’s generators may seem rather simplistic in the future, they represent Spain’s first step in exploring electrification.

As the saying goes, the beginning is the hardest part; only after creating generators does Spain’s electrification journey truly commence.

With a generator, there’s electricity, and figuring out how to utilize this new energy isn’t really a challenge for Carlo.

To some extent, the principles of generators and motors are similar. The only difference is one converts kinetic energy into electrical energy, while the other converts electrical energy into kinetic energy.

Aside from generators, Carlo was more familiar with another tool that widely uses electrical energy: the electric light bulb.

His education from the future deeply ingrained in him that the material ultimately used in electric light bulbs was tungsten filament.

Although current technology might not yet produce qualified tungsten filament for use in light bulbs, how is that Carlo’s concern?

Carlo’s task was to propose the concept of tungsten filament bulbs to experts researching light bulbs.

As for how to produce tungsten filament and experiment with tungsten filament bulbs, that was for scientists to think about—it was not something for Carlo, the King, to worry about.

Considering the importance of electricity for the future, Carlo decided to personally visit the electricity laboratory to see how the research was progressing.

Fortunately, the electricity laboratory was not far from the Madrid Royal Palace, and with the luxurious carriage exclusive to the royal family and the attentive service of the maids, Carlo soon arrived at the laboratory on the outskirts.

“Indeed, it looks much more impressive than before.” Sitting in the carriage, Carlo could already see the newly completed entire experimental area, which had been greatly improved since the last time he visited.

Both the main electricity laboratory building and the engine company’s engine research room had been built quite well.

Being new constructions, the overall appearance was quite magnificent. The V-shaped complex building at the center of the experimental area looked grand, standing out among the laboratory area where most buildings were under three stories.

Leaving the two maids in the carriage, Carlo took a portion of his guards towards the electricity laboratory.

To avoid disturbing Graham and others’ experiments, Carlo purposely did not inform the laboratory of his arrival, resulting in no one from the laboratory coming out to greet him.

Carlo was indifferent to such formalities. What mattered was whether the laboratory had research results; that would be something Carlo would be happy about and the reason he established the laboratory.

Having visited the experimental area before, Carlo knew his way around the electricity laboratory quite well.

After instructing the troops stationed on the perimeter of the experimental area to continue patrolling quietly, Carlo proceeded indoors to the electricity laboratory.

The laboratory was quite bustling at that time. Following the successful manufacturing of the two generators, Graham and many colleagues began discussing the utilization of electrical energy.

Thanks to the generators, indeed, electricity could be generated, but the problem was how to use this electricity?

To put it differently, how can electrical energy be proven as more efficient and cheaper energy?

Currently, there are two explorations concerning the role of electricity: one is for lighting, and the other for power energy.

However, both explorations are in their very early stages, and it’s challenging to demonstrate electricity’s function, which is why electricity practitioners have not gained significant attention to date.

Even if generators capable of generating electricity were manufactured, the issue was that the electricity currently served no practical purpose.

Electricity could be stored using lead-acid batteries, but what use would that be?

If electricity could not be properly utilized, then it was practically worthless.

Leaving several guards waiting outside the laboratory door, Carlo merely pushed open the door to hear the lively discussion inside the laboratory.

“Looks quite lively,” Carlo said with a smile.

Inside the laboratory, Graham and the others heard the door open and Carlo’s voice. They quickly looked up and saw Carlo had entered the laboratory.

“Your Majesty!”

Everyone stopped their discussion and bowed towards Carlo.

After all, Carlo was the main sponsor of the electricity laboratory at the moment. The laboratory’s research funds depended entirely on Carlo, which made everyone sincerely respect Carlo, eager to persuade him to increase research funding by all possible means.

“Please forgive us, Your Majesty.” Graham stepped forward appropriately, expressing his apologies to Carlo, “I did not receive any notification from the Royal Palace, hence our failure to welcome you.”