Africa Day of the Austrian Federal Economic ChamberA large electricity grid and large central power plants are only necessary in areas with a considerable difference between summer and winter. Superfluous near the equator.On January 28, the WKO - Austrian Chamber of Commerce organized the Africa Day. After several contacts at this event, here is a summary of all my findings:
There were 3 reasons for this:
In the case of photovoltaics and electricity storage in batteries, efficiency is only lower for very small appliances below 1 kW. As with leapfrogging telephone landlines, leapfrogging the electricity grid represents a considerable saving. There is only one reason left for dimensioning grids: to interconnect enough power plants to supply large consumers. For example, the workers' housing estate that supplies the factory. A large electricity grid and large central power plants are only necessary in areas with a considerable difference between summer and winter. Extremely superfluous near the equator.
I've traveled 3,500 km in the past two weeks. Most of it on highways, quickly and safely. If I want to add a charging stop on the navigation system, a long list of charging stations within a radius of 20 km appears. In large parts of Africa, there are only dirt roads. Charging stations? To make mobility faster and cheaper, you need a lot of concrete for road construction and many fast-charging stations to run on cheap solar power instead of expensive oil.
Here is an example of a medium-sized fast-charging settlement consisting of 16 GEMINI next generation houses, 2 MW of photovoltaics, 6 MWh of sodium batteries, 6 MWh of iron-air batteries and a 300 kW generator for very cloudy days. The simulation with the solar data of Kampala in Kenya from 2005 to 2020 showed: With this design, 99% of the 6 MWh daily draw is generated with photovoltaics; the generator only has to be started on very cloudy days to generate 1% of the electricity. 6 MWh daily consumption means charging 100 cars with 40 kWh and 10 large trucks with 200 kWh. In addition to the sale of electricity, the residents could also make a living from catering and the sale of their own agricultural produce. If this is not enough, commuting and working from home can be added. It is important that such settlements are self-sustaining with 20 cents/kWh electricity sales, which represents a halving of the energy costs for mobility compared to diesel by €1.20 per liter.
The cement industry is very energy-intensive. A drastic example: there is a sign at the Urstein hydropower plant on the Salzach: 120 GWh annual production, we supply 35,000 households with clean electricity. Nearby is LEUBE, a cement plant with an annual production of 500,000 tons. If this cement plant were converted to purely electrical production of cement, it would require around 350 GWh/a of electricity. Then the sign would have to say: We supply 90 jobs in the energy-intensive industry. That's a dramatic difference between 35,000 households and 90 jobs in the energy-intensive industry. In Africa, a 3 km² energy-optimized settlement area could supply such a cement factory with electricity. 3 km², 4,800 houses, 360 MW of photovoltaics. Everything that can be done in theory is clear. It's just a matter of making it affordable with synergy effects and cost optimization. The synergy effect is to combine electricity production and living in the same space.
If people were as productive at 33°C as they are at 23°C, companies would certainly not spend so much money on air conditioning in offices. A key element of Singapore's success was air conditioning. How do you get air conditioning on the cheap? Cheap electricity and thermal insulation. Price studies have shown that thermal insulation is significantly more expensive in Africa than in Europe. In Europe, it is transported from the factory to the consumer on well-developed roads, but what is it like in Africa? By ship to a port and then over a dirt road to the consumer? In addition to purely electrically powered cement factories, purely electrically powered factories for mineral wool are therefore another key element in Africa's rise.
I was expecting a few thousand demonstrators. The day before was the Africa Day at the WKO in Vienna, so I took my daughter Johanna with me from Vienna to Munich. Where else can you meet thousands of business people at a demonstration? At least that was the theory. According to my count and the police count, there were 100 participants in the practice. About half of them were employees of a single company in Chiemgau who arrived by coach. Something I had never experienced at a demonstration before: I was immediately banned from handing out leaflets. 100 participants in a city with over a million inhabitants, in Bavaria, which has half the population of the whole of Austria? The business community showed itself to be extremely disinterested and disorganized. Nevertheless, the campaign was a success because I was interviewed by a real journalist. Here to the interview. The sound quality was affected by strong winds. This strong wind was even visible in the energy forecast of my Tesla Y: 52% of the battery for the trip to Munich, but only 40% for the return trip due to a strong tailwind.
Net zero emissions means reducing greenhouse gas emissions to a level that nature can supposedly absorb for a long time. For the rich, this means Maintain poverty, cause poverty, so that enough emission rights remain for the rich. See the architect and her opinion that Africans don't need roads.
Planetary cleanup back to 350 ppm CO2 means about 47,000 TWh of electricity to filter 1 ppm CO2 from the atmosphere and recycle it into carbon and oxygen. Who can afford that? Only a rich human race, 10 billion people in prosperity can do it. One million km² of energy-optimized settlement areas alone should contribute 150,000 TWh for the necessary electricity for world-wide prosperity and planetary restoration.
It's not about whether the shares will be worth 10 times or 100 times more in 20 years' time or whether they will only be worth a few cents. It's about the future of us all. Will there be a big showdown between eco-fascism and yesterday's fossils, or will it be possible to overcome the deep divisions in society and inspire supporters of both sides to work towards a great new goal? Global prosperity and planetary restoration instead of saving, restricting, renouncing and climate catastrophe or peak oil and a little more climate catastrophe. Both sides must be convinced that there is no solution that is even remotely viable. On the one hand, it must be shown that net-zero emissions are a completely inadequate target and that the goal must instead be a planetary clean-up back to 350 ppm CO2. The other side must be shown that solar power enables a higher standard of living than fossil energy. It's about survival! The social situation in 2024 compared to 2004. Extrapolating that to 2044 makes for a horror world! If we are successful and your shares are worth 100 times more, this is just an addition to all the other achievements. One new shareholder said, "Me with my very modest investment", but €4,000 times €1,000 is also €4 million for all investments up to the opening of the settlement in Unken as a starting point for global expansion. There is a reward program for recommending the share to others. Two of the new shareholders have become shareholders through this reward program. Here are the details.
My studies on off-grid fast-charging settlements have already resulted in initial contact and a video conference with the CEO of a major African company. The most important statements: "There are about 2 million homes missing" and "Solar-powered cement factories are a fascinating new idea". Initial negotiations have been held with two financing platforms. There are several chances of an event that could lead to a jump in the share price. At today's share price, € 2 million would be 10,000 packages at € 200 and 300,000 shares for the buyer. However, if these € 2 million are only worth 20% of the AG, this would logically result in a very significant jump in the share price. |
