African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 616 - 94 Energy Issues
Ernst was talking about the general development path, which will certainly change according to the situation in East Africa. In fact, when it comes to the development of the automobile industry, there’s no avoiding a new issue, which is road construction.
Now that automobiles have appeared, road construction in East Africa must be put on the agenda. In the past, East Africa built many roads, especially in the east, where the road density can already be compared to some European countries.
However, the standards of these roads are very low, including gravel roads, dirt roads, cinder-paved roads, brick roads, or cement roads.
More than eighty percent of the wilderness and countryside in East Africa are dirt roads. Some are compacted, and villages near industrial areas may have cinder roads, with a few gravel road surfaces.
In the cities, brick roads, including stone pavements, are predominant. Inside industrial areas, there are generally cement roads. In cities with average economic levels, there are also dirt roads, especially in some western cities where infrastructure is quite lacking.
But the east is not necessarily much better. Although the road standards in the east surpass the average European levels, the current road conditions in Europe are also hard to describe – it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.
And now that automobiles have emerged, the global road structure must also change to accommodate the future development of the automobile industry.
If it were up to Ernst, the high compatibility between hardened roads and rubber tires is also a major driving force for highway development, complementing each other. Without it, classic wooden tires or iron tires pressing on hardened roads would drive him crazy just with the noise.
Although hardened roads are the future development trend, Ernst is not in a hurry to implement it immediately in East Africa. On one hand, the current engineering volume in East Africa is too large, and many hydraulic facility constructions are in the human resources stage. On the other hand, it needs time to prepare.
Moreover, aside from roads, the biggest issue East Africa needs to solve is the fuel problem, and the local oil industry should also be put on the agenda.
No matter what, the local oil resources should be developed a bit to suppress the price of imported oil. Reflecting on the previous life, think of Africa’s oil production areas.
Ernst plans to first explore and develop the oil and gas resources of Turkana Lake, which is akin to answering questions while looking at the answers.
The oil resources of Turkana Lake are neither many nor few. At least a few hundred million barrels of reserves are available. This amount of oil would definitely not suffice in later generations, but in this era, it’s absolutely enough for East Africa’s initial use.
During World War I and II, Romania’s oil production was only between seven and ten million tons annually, which was still a burst situation under war conditions. Hence, the oil from Turkana Lake, combined with imported oil, is at least enough for East Africa to use in its first four or five decades.
There are currently only a few oil-producing countries, and their production is pitifully low. Therefore, East Africa doesn’t necessarily need to directly take out the oil from Uganda or South Sudan for development.
In fact, East Africa has already signed numerous supply agreements with American oil giants like Rockefeller, and it has even laid out the European oil industry in Romania, Austria-Hungary, and within the Russian Empire to cultivate the professional workers and technical personnel needed by East Africa.
But these measures are only temporary fixes. While East Africa’s overall oil resources are not scarce, they are not plentiful either. To ensure the energy security of East Africa, Angola must find a way to be entirely taken over in the future, especially the area of Luanda, north of the Congo River.
If the Luanda area can be secured, then East Africa’s oil reserves would still be considerable by the 21st century, and the oil resource potential in eastern East Africa is also quite large, which is sufficient for early development.
In terms of oil reserves, Africa sits above average among continents, primarily concentrated in its northern regions, especially in North and West Africa. This is not particularly favorable for contemporary East Africa.
The oil resources in East Africa are also concentrated in the northern regions, including the Nile River Basin and the east. As for the northern part of Angola, it’s currently under Portuguese control.
Besides the immediate oil resources within East Africa, there’s Alaska, which is considered royal property. However, Alaska is isolated overseas, and Ernst does not want it to develop too early. If Alaska’s gold and oil resources are discovered, it’s highly likely to attract the covetous eyes of Japan, Russia, Canada (Britain), and the United States.
Frankly speaking, it’s only because the Far East Empire is currently weak that it isn’t included; excluding Southeast Asia, there aren’t many small countries in the entire North Pacific region.
Therefore, until East Africa can provide military security support to Alaska, it’s better for the region to continue developing in a low-key manner.
Developing the oil resources of Turkana Lake is not so easy either. Although Ernst is certain that there are oil resources in Turkana Lake, whether it can be technically realized is probably questionable.
However, according to Ernst’s thoughts, the difficulty shouldn’t be particularly high. Romanian oil is located along the Black Sea, and although Turkana Lake is just a saline lake, it’s not small in size – the two should have similarities.
So resource exploration in Turkana Lake can start now. In this regard, top experts must certainly be invited to implement it, and it’s best to closely associate it with East Africa’s National Defense Security Bureau.
Meanwhile, Ernst also thought of Germany’s coal-to-liquid technology during World War II, which is another excellent idea. East Africa’s coal resources are still quite rich, especially in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The latter two, while not reaching the level of South Africa, are still quite substantial.
After all, in the previous era, South Africa’s coal resources could compete with Australia, Russia, India, Brazil, etc., in the international market.
Then there’s biofuel in later times. Although East Africa’s corn production is far from the United States’, the planting area isn’t small either, so both directions can be considered.
At this point, Ernst also thought of the rich natural gas resources within East Africa, which can replace oil resources to some extent. Moreover, East Africa has significant natural gas resources, which are not scarce domestically, with abundant natural gas distribution even in the eastern part.
According to past experiences, natural gas mainly focuses on household fuel and industrial production. Although its role in transportation is not as significant as oil, it complements oil in other fields.
Most importantly, natural gas is a clean energy source that can play a significant role in environmental protection. Therefore, the development and utilization of natural gas resources should be valued in East Africa, and as time goes by, clean energy like natural gas will receive more attention.
Finally, there’s nuclear energy. Talking about nuclear energy utilization now may be premature, and Ernst is not even sure if he will live to see that time.
However, East Africa has obvious advantages in this aspect, and Ernst already has a general plan for the future layout of the nuclear energy industry in East Africa.
That is to place it in southwestern Africa. Firstly, southwestern Africa is expansive and sparsely populated, so even in the event of an accident, it wouldn’t greatly affect East Africa. At worst, they can learn from the UK and dump the waste into the Atlantic Ocean – East Africa mainly relies on the Indian Ocean, so doing this can follow the example of the rogue trio, the US, UK, and Japan in the later eras. Secondly, southwestern Africa is originally a crucial uranium mining area globally, and some rivers even carry radioactive elements eroded from upstream mountains. Thirdly, it allows for the strategic layout of the National Defense Security Bureau with high concealment – situations like Germany’s nuclear plant being bombed during WWII would be unlikely to happen in East Africa.
