Chapter 134: Vision of Electrification (Happy New Year!)

Arthur acted very quickly. In just the second day, he allocated hundreds of natives to help Theodor Kobel and Ludwig Durr build new laboratories and research bases, and also gave them 100,000 pounds of start-up funds for the purchase of research equipment and research expenses.

At the same time, Arthur also asked Butler Hunter to assist in acquiring and calling a large number of aviation and aerodynamic books from the Australian National University and even Europe, which were used for Theodor Kobel and Ludwig Durr, and also for more aviation experts to study in the future.

If it weren't for the fact that there were not enough people now, Arthur would even want to open an aviation major at the Australian National University to train more aviation industry talents for Australia.

There is no need to rush this matter for the time being. After attracting more aviation professionals from Europe, there will be people to start it.

In order to make other countries and forces think that Theodor Kobel and Ludwig Dürr's aviation research institute was researching airships, Arthur even mobilized a number of Australian workers to come and build new airships. He not only announced the construction plan of the airship, but also made a big statement that he would conduct public experiments in Australia after the airship was successfully built.

This move aroused the curiosity of many Australians, and successfully made the aviation laboratory under construction and the airship that had not yet started construction well known in Australia.

Of course, this is indeed what Arthur wanted to see. Although Australia seems to be calm at present, no one can guarantee whether there will be spies from other countries in Australia.

If Australia's airship construction has achieved certain achievements, it will naturally attract the attention of the great powers.

If most of the investment of the great powers in the aviation industry can be attracted to airships, then Australia will also be able to take a certain lead in the development of aircraft.

On October 19, 1902, after more than five months of preparation, the Australian diplomatic delegation set sail, aiming directly to Europe.

This diplomatic delegation is much smaller than the last one. The person in charge is only Foreign Minister Andrew, accompanied by some officials from other departments.

There are two purposes for this diplomatic delegation. In addition to carrying samples of new cars to the British Empire and the German Empire to seek support from the two countries to jointly open a car factory, the purpose of this diplomatic delegation is to tap more talents in Europe.

Since Australia's independence, Australia's old and new industries have not escaped the current situation in the UK, that is, the rejection and disdain of new technologies.

Yes, the British Empire, which rose in the first industrial revolution, fell behind other countries in the second industrial revolution, and was surpassed by the United States and Germany in industry.

You know, many emerging technologies in the second industrial revolution were first born in the UK, but British entrepreneurs were unwilling to apply these new technologies and processes to production.

Britain is an old capitalist country and the mother country of the industrial revolution. Many factories in the UK have existed for hundreds of years, and the equipment of enterprises is outdated.

In the eyes of those British capitalists, it is not cost-effective to dismantle old equipment and replace new machines, which also hinders the progress of British industry.

At the same time, because of the huge gap between the cost of raw materials and labor costs in the UK and its major colonies, capitalists would rather transport a large amount of capital and equipment abroad than update the production equipment and technology of British local enterprises.

Capital outflow has certainly brought huge profits to the UK, but it has also restricted Britain's industrial production and progress.

As one of the former colonies of the UK, Australia also received a lot of capital investment from the UK before independence. Even now, some British capitalists and entrepreneurs come to Australia every year to open factories for Australia's low raw materials and labor costs.

In the UK, a skilled worker's annual salary is at least 50 pounds, and if it is a relatively scarce position, the salary will double.

But in Australia, 10 pounds is already the per capita income level. Even if the economic situation has improved, the salary level of workers will not exceed 15 pounds.

What a huge gap is this? The salary cost of a skilled worker is 35 pounds a year, coupled with cheaper labor costs and resources, which is why British capital flows out.

This is a good thing for Australia, but it also has some disadvantages.

Fortunately, in recent years, most of the capital outflow from Britain is new technology. But before Australia's independence, or even earlier, the factories and enterprises established by British capital in Australia used old technology. Many factories in Europe have entered the era of electrification, and some factories in Australia are still using the technology of the First Industrial Revolution.

Arthur naturally cannot tolerate the restrictions brought by the technological gap to Australia's industrial development, so Australia's next plan is to fully realize electrification.

Although there is a lack of talent in electrification, it is still very simple for Australia to deploy electrification.

At present, the two most commonly used power generation methods are thermal power generation and hydropower generation. Among them, thermal power generation is more widely built because there is no terrain restriction.

Of course, thermal power generation is not without flaws. Thermal power generation requires a large amount of coal as energy, which also limits the laying of power grids in many coal-deficient countries.

But Australia does not lack coal mines, which also has certain inherent advantages for the development of electrification.

Arthur's favorite talent is Tesla, a great man forgotten by the times.

Unfortunately, Tesla had already become an American at this time and had already made achievements in electricity.

Even though Australia had tried many times to win him over, Tesla only agreed to go to Australia as an American expert to guide the laying of AC power networks.

But this is enough. Tesla's AC patent is completely free, which can also save a lot of money for Australia to lay circuit networks.

As for Edison's direct current, Arthur didn't even think about it. Not to mention the controversial issue of Edison's identity as an inventor, Arthur was destined not to adopt it just because of the huge defects exposed by direct current.

Because Arthur wanted to achieve full electrification in Australia, this diplomatic delegation had another purpose, which was to win over some electrical experts and talents in Europe.

Of course, this is not difficult. There are many electrical appliance experts in the UK alone, but British capitalists don't pay much attention to these technologies.

First update, please support!