Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 487: Energy Regulation

Chapter 487: Energy Regulation

The electric revolution wasn’t limited to lighting. Some small, low-tech electric appliances also began to emerge.

For example, the electric fan was one such byproduct, invented by a technical worker. It started as an effort to cool equipment more conveniently than using mechanical fans, which required manual operation.

In a flash of inspiration, the worker attached an iron blade to an electric motor and connected it to a power source. The blades spun rapidly, and thus, the first electric fan was born.

Franz initially thought a great scientist had emerged, but investigations revealed that the inventor was just an ordinary technical worker with no scientific research aptitude beyond this accidental invention of the electric fan.

This real-life example once again proved that technological inventions are often the result of coincidences. There are many similar cases where ordinary people created practical technological inventions.

This strengthened Franz’s determination to include hands-on training in the education system. Starting in 1871, Austrian students gained an additional practical course.

It’s like the modern joke: a true genius can build a nuclear reactor in their garage.

This type of talent is exactly what Austria needs most. Now at the forefront of the technological revolution, Austria has no one to copy. The former imitation empire must now innovate independently.

Franz rarely interferes in this area. For a country to become truly powerful, it must possess the ability to independently advance its research and development, rather than being led by the nose by its emperor.

The achievements from his previous life can certainly be used to avoid detours, but for a country, these can only serve as a supplement. Once they become a dependency, it becomes a disaster.

Franz typically just outlines the requirements, leaving the specifics of how to achieve them to the scientists. Success is, of course, welcome, but failure is also acceptable. Scientific research has never been smooth sailing, and it’s impossible to succeed without enduring setbacks.

This is partly due to Franz’s own history as an academic underachiever. As an ordinary person, he always enjoyed the convenience of technology without ever caring about how these technological products were manufactured.

With just a bit of knowledge from the internet, it’s better not to bring it out. If he did, it might actually do more harm than good.

The economic conference continued, with everyone discussing how to promote the widespread adoption of electricity. The summary boiled down to two points:

First, reduce taxes for companies engaged in the electric power industry to lower their operating costs.

Second, lower the prices of raw materials, specifically copper and rubber, to reduce the costs associated with promoting electricity.

The approach was straightforward and lacked technical sophistication. Any new technology first faces the issue of cost. Only when costs are within a controllable range does it have economic value and only with economic value can it be promoted in the market.

Electricity has been known for many years. Why was it only now being widely adopted? It was because the advent of high-power generators had lowered the cost of electricity generation to a level the market could bear.

Currently, one kilowatt-hour of electricity requires only about 500 grams of coal. If high calorific value coal is used, this consumption is even lower, making the cost acceptable in the market.

Seeing the ongoing debates among the attendees, Franz couldn’t resist wanting to speak up. However, he held back and instead summoned the Prime Minister during the intermission.

Austria doesn’t lack coal. In terms of reserves, it’s second only to the Russian Empire on the European continent, which is the advantage of having a large territory. However, the quality of this coal is questionable.

“Prime Minister, I suddenly realized a problem. Most of the coal mines in the country produce lignite. This coal is suitable for heating or power generation, but not for steelmaking.

Currently, domestic demand for steel is steadily increasing, and in the future, the demand for bituminous coal will also rise sharply. For the sake of long-term development, we now need to classify industrial coal types.”

(Author’s Note: In nature, there is only a small amount of coking coal that can be directly used for steelmaking. Most of it is bituminous coal, which needs to be processed to produce coke.)

Prime Minister Felix thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, “Your Majesty, it shouldn’t be necessary! The country’s coal reserves are quite abundant. At the current consumption rate, it would last for five hundred years.

Although the reserves of bituminous coal for steelmaking are not very high, they are still sufficient. Even if the demand for steel increases tenfold, this coal would be enough for several hundred years. Considering such a long timeframe, it’s too early to worry about these issues now.

Enforcing industrial coal classification now involves many problems. Many areas that produce bituminous coal would have to buy lignite from outside at high prices, increasing industrial production costs and hindering economic development.”

This is a practical issue. If coal classification is enforced, it will inevitably face this economic problem.

In this era, the demand for coal resources is not very high, and energy issues have not yet entered the public’s awareness.

Moreover, although steel and iron are often mentioned together, the coal used for “steelmaking” and “iron smelting” is actually different.

Austria currently produces six million tons of iron annually, but only a few hundred thousand tons of this are converted into steel.

With such low steel production, the demand for bituminous coal is naturally low. Even if production increases tenfold, the total steel production would only be a few million tons, which still wouldn’t consume much coal.

Franz began to hesitate. The actual situation seemed a bit different than expected. Austria’s bituminous coal reserves were not very high, but industrial demand was even lower.

After some consideration, Franz decided to continue promoting the classification of industrial coal use, but the approach was less aggressive.

This decision was not made lightly, Franz carefully thought it through. He believed that Austria’s future demand for steel would rapidly increase, potentially surpassing ten million tons by the end of the century.

This would also significantly increase the demand for bituminous coal. If Austria were to acquire the Rhineland region and its Ruhr coal resources beforehand, there would be no coal shortage.

But there are always uncertainties. If something went wrong and Austria couldn’t quickly secure the Ruhr coal mines, would domestic bituminous coal production be sufficient to meet the demand?

No one could answer that question. Given this uncertainty, Franz preferred to be prepared. Even if the effort turned out to be unnecessary, it was better than finding out at a critical moment that the supply of high-quality bituminous coal was insufficient.

After considerable effort, Franz barely managed to persuade Prime Minister Felix. Felix might still think this was a waste of time, but he accepted it out of respect for the emperor.

This was all irrelevant to Franz, who only cared about results. As long as the goal was achieved, some twists and turns in the process didn’t matter.

No one knew the content of their conversation. Due to this small interlude, the meeting’s intermission was extended.

With both the emperor and prime minister absent, the meeting couldn’t proceed. Like most meetings, it had to wait for key leaders to return before resuming.

The staff were very attentive, providing coffee, pastries, and today’s newspapers during the break.

Perhaps feeling it was improper to keep everyone waiting, about twenty minutes later, the two returned to the meeting room, and the meeting continued.

As the meeting was nearing its end, Prime Minister Felix, looking rather frustrated, said, “Gentlemen, let’s not forget that coal is needed for power generation. Although our domestic coal production is considerable, we must prioritize steelmaking.

The future domestic demand for steel will see a sharp increase. Yet, over 80% of our coal production consists of lignite, with bituminous coal suitable for steelmaking making up less than 20%, and high-quality coal less than 5%.

We need to enact an energy law to legally ensure the availability of steelmaking coal. This shouldn’t be done through administrative measures but rather through economic means to regulate market supply.

In essence, we need to ensure that the most suitable coal for steelmaking is used exclusively for that purpose, producing the highest quality steel, while the remaining ordinary coal flows into the market.”

It was evident that Prime Minister Felix wasn’t entirely willing, although this was apparent only to Franz. Different people saw different things in his expression. Many officials interpreted it as “concern,” believing he wore such an expression because he was worried about the issue.

This interpretation was somewhat forced but more acceptable than Franz’s explanation. It was common knowledge that only the highest quality coal could produce the best steel.

Using economic means to regulate the market was straightforward and crude. The Austrian government had similar successful experiences, such as imposing taxes on high-quality coal.

If this high-quality coal was used in steel mills, the taxes would be refunded. If it was used elsewhere, the tax exemption wouldn’t apply.

The benefits of this approach were clear: it raised the price of high-quality coal, reducing its market competitiveness. Power plants, for instance, wouldn’t purchase this high-quality coal due to its higher price.

Driven by profit, capitalists would self-regulate the market. The only issue was supervision, ensuring they didn’t evade taxes.

In comparison, these were minor issues. Having a law versus not having one were two different concepts. Even if tax evasion occurred, it would be on a small scale.

Only with a limited number of participants could secrecy be maintained. If the scale grew, evading the tax authorities would become difficult.

Moreover, even if sellers were willing to take risks, buyers might not be.

Even with tax evasion, the price of high-quality coal wouldn’t be lower than that of ordinary coal. For many, the difference wasn’t significant, but the risks were substantial.

If they weren’t caught, then it’s all good. But if caught, the consequences would be severe, with heavy fines potentially leading to bankruptcy and even imprisonment.

Prime Minister Felix’s proposal faced considerable opposition but was barely passed at the meeting. Franz’s subtle actions almost explicitly stated that the emperor supported this proposal.

Raising the issue at the economic conference was also a way to share the burden. By convention, all high-level meetings in Austria were confidential.

Officials attending the meeting couldn’t publicly declare their opposition to the law. Once a law was enacted, no official had the right to oppose it; they could only comply.

The outside world wasn’t aware of how much opposition existed within the government, which would cause many to misjudge. The grievances of those whose interests were harmed would be shared by everyone.

With so many officials involved, no one dared to act out. This policy had no impact on ordinary citizens, who were always loyal users of cheap coal.

Except for coal bosses, almost no one would be affected. After all, the government was only regulating the highest quality portion of bituminous coal, not affecting others’ interests.

If there were any losses, Franz himself would suffer the most. Unbeknownst to many, he had become Austria’s largest coal supplier. This was the benefit of his past buying spree.

When railways hadn’t been built, mines in deep mountains weren’t worth much. But with the completion of the large railway network project, railways now reached every Austrian city, making transportation issues a thing of the past.

With transportation resolved, mineral resources could be transported out, turning many previously inaccessible mines into economically viable assets, thereby creating mining tycoons.

Franz didn’t mind this minor loss because the policy had beneficiaries—the steel companies. It was just moving money from one pocket to another.

Losses from coal mining would be recouped from investments in the steel industry, where he also secretly invested in heavy industry.

This exemplifies the power of consortiums, with their complete industrial chains and far greater risk resistance compared to ordinary companies.

By now, a vast royal consortium had quietly emerged in Austria. If all of its assets were exposed, it would outshine all the consortiums in the world.

Obviously, this was impossible to expose. Trump cards are naturally better hidden deeply. Although the royal consortium was vaguely connected, it actually existed in several parts, or rather, as several consortiums.

Franz only remotely controlled them. These separate consortiums also had a large group of allies, forming a community of interests.

On the surface, some consortiums were even in opposition, often fighting over interests. To say they were under the same umbrella, even if evidence were presented, probably few would believe it.

This was just the beginning. With the rise of emerging industries, these consortiums would continue to snowball in the future, increasing Franz’s control over the country.