The hottest energy transformation has its ups and

There are ups and downs in energy transformation, and the pace of "intelligent manufacturing" has accelerated.

Gregory Zuckerman of the U.S. Wall Street commented on George Michel, the pioneer of shale gas drilling hydraulic fracturing technology, in his new book hydraulic fracturing published this year: his influence may eventually be comparable to that of Henry Ford and Alexander Bell. Ford introduced a large-scale assembly line to produce cars, which brought about a revolution in the mode of industrial production, and its father bell was the pioneer of modern communication technology

the shale gas revolution in the United States is the result of the maturing technology of horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing. An important criterion for judging whether shale gas will bring about an energy revolution is whether its development volume is sufficient and sustainable. A number of energy experts interviewed by this newspaper recently believe that the growth of shale gas production in the United States in 2013 exceeded expectations, and shale gas has a revolutionary impact on the energy structure of the United States

according to the report released by the US energy information administration in October this year, the production efficiency of the shale gas industry is improving. In the summer of 2013, the United States surpassed Russia for the first time, becoming the country with the largest total oil and gas production in the world. It is predicted that the natural gas production of the United States in 2040 will increase by 56% over 2012, and the annual production will reach about 1trillion cubic meters

Zhang Kang, former chief engineer of Sinopec petroleum exploration and Development Research Institute, said in an interview that in the United States, energy represented by shale gas and tight oil has suddenly sprung up, and prices have fallen, forming a huge thrust to promote the development of related industries, which has begun to drive the relocation of manufacturing industries represented by chemical industry and steel. Zhang Kang believes that with the prosperity of shale gas, the energy base of the United States is further strengthened. More importantly, the rapid development of unconventional energy has made the pace of the development and utilization of renewable energy in the United States more leisurely

U.S. President Barack Obama issued a presidential decree in early December this year, requiring federal government agencies to increase the proportion of renewable energy in the energy consumption of the whole (5) regular inspection sprocket transmission from the current 7% to 20% in the next 7 years. The White House said the move would help federal agencies achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 28% by 2020 compared with 2010

however, Lin Boqiang, director of the energy economy research center of Xiamen University, believed in an interview with this newspaper that due to the fact that unconventional carbon fiber materials will become cheaper and cheaper, natural gas and tight oil are still fossil energy, which is easy to cause groundwater pollution in the process of exploitation, and related environmental issues have also caused greater controversy this year. He believes that from a realistic perspective, the abundance and low cost of unconventional natural gas and oil will likely reduce the competitiveness of renewable energy in the U.S. market and objectively hinder the development of renewable energy

Germany's energy transformation is in trouble, and the popularization of new energy is easier said than done.

just as the United States is embracing energy prosperity, Germany's green energy transformation has encountered cold air. Due to the lack of oil and natural gas, Germany published an energy transformation policy document in 2010 to vigorously promote the transition from fossil energy to renewable energy. In 2011, Germany further refined its targets and plans to increase the proportion of renewable energy power generation to 35% in 2020 and 80% in 2050. Relying on policy and technical support, Germany's renewable energy utilization has been in the leading position in the world. According to statistics, at present, the proportion of renewable energy power generation in Germany has reached 25%

however, digital success cannot hide the difficulties in reality. On the one hand, due to the cost difference between the current new energy electricity price and the conventional electricity price, the German government has continuously provided huge subsidies to the green energy industry for many years. Ordinary people and small businesses have to bear the new energy surcharge, which has raised public doubts about government policies. At present, the domestic electricity price in Germany is 1/3 higher than that in neighboring France, and even three times that in the United States. It is estimated that the total amount of green energy subsidies in Germany next year may exceed 23.6 billion euros; On the other hand, when the bottleneck of power storage technology has not been broken, the intermittency of solar energy and wind energy has led to the dependence of Germany's power supply. After the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, the German government decided to abandon nuclear power, shut down eight nuclear power plants that year, and promised to shut down all nuclear power plants by 2022. As a result, when the supply of new energy power is insufficient, we have to increase the production of large-scale electricity, regardless of carbon emissions, or we will buy electricity from neighboring countries

de 3 In an environment without vibration; The pain of China's energy transformation, on the one hand, arises from the time of day. Japan's Fukushima nuclear incident deliberately accelerated the process of de nuclear power, making the ups and downs of new energy power generation lack backup power, while the economic downturn has led to lower prices of traditional energy. Coupled with the shale gas revolution in the United States, renewable energy has lost more price advantages; On the other hand, the transformation of new energy in Germany is still insufficient in infrastructure and technology. The weak investment in smart electricity and the bottleneck of power storage technology have become important factors restricting the development of new energy

according to the statistics of the European Commission in May this year, the price of natural gas decreased by 66% in the United States and increased by 35% in Europe between 2005 and 2012. This makes EU leaders, especially Germany, very worried about the future of industrial enterprises driven by cheap energy to invest in the United States, thereby weakening the competitiveness of the EU. As one of the world's chemical giants, BASF has transferred part of its production and R & D investment to the United States. At present, the price of natural gas in the United States is only 1/3 of that in Germany, and the industrial electricity price is only half of that in Germany. The German government said that it would announce the plan of fundamental reform of renewable energy policy in April next year, reduce the civil electricity price, and maintain the special treatment of electricity price for large enterprises. The future path of energy transformation is a great test for Germany

Jia Genliang, a professor at the school of economics of Renmin University of China, told this newspaper that the history of the previous two industrial revolutions showed that the confrontation and conflict between the old and new energy systems would have a significant impact on the rise and fall of the country. Studies have shown that due to the path dependence of technology, thinking, existing interests and other aspects, Britain's adherence to coal and the old industrial structure led to its loss of world leadership in the second industrial revolution. The historical experience of the United States and Germany in achieving leapfrog development in the second industrial revolution shows that entering the renewable energy revolutionary technical and economic system as soon as possible is likely to be a good opportunity to achieve national leapfrog development

3d printing is a beneficial supplement to large-scale production, and the trend of manufacturing intelligence is enhanced.

as a leading manufacturer and service provider in the field of 3D printing in the world, American 3D systems company was rated by fortune as one of the 100 fastest-growing companies in the world in 2013

last year, US President Barack Obama announced a plan to revitalize the US manufacturing industry and decided to invest US $10billion to establish 15 manufacturing innovation research institutes, including special research on 3D printing

at present, 3D printing technology has been introduced into the parts manufacturing of Boeing, Airbus and other large aircraft, as well as the prototype design and production of Nike, Adidas and other sporting goods. This technology is outstanding in promoting the optimal design of products and shortening the R & D process. The Financial Times reported in June this year that in the past, it used to take 12 technicians to work for 4 to 6 weeks to test a new shoe. Now it takes only oneortwo days through 3D printing, and the effect is much better

experts generally believe that the main application of 3D printing technology is to improve the design efficiency of products, reduce research and development costs, and meet the customized service needs of consumers. 3D printing technology has more advantages for the production of parts and components that are more complex and difficult to complete with traditional manufacturing processes. Its value is more reflected in the front-end links such as research and development and design. However, it is unrealistic to replace the traditional assembly line manufacturing industry characterized by large-scale production. It shows a lasting sealing effect and is more a useful supplement to the production of traditional large-scale manufacturing industry. The broad prospect of the application of this technology is that it is linked with the trend of interconnected big data, cloud computing and intelligent production, and has become a part of the emerging manufacturing revolution

Dr. Deng Zhou of the Institute of industrial economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told this newspaper that the changes contained in the new manufacturing revolution are not just 3D printing technology, but the core changes are reflected in the subversion of the production mode and organization mode of the manufacturing industry. At present, one of the most important transformations in the manufacturing industry is the substitution of intelligent manufacturing for automated manufacturing. Intelligent industrial robots can correct errors by themselves, and even carry out process improvement and process optimization independently, without care and debugging

the intelligent trend of manufacturing industry has far-reaching significance for the future global manufacturing pattern: the necessity of setting up factories in countries and regions with relatively low labor force will gradually weaken, and the design link in the early stage of production will become the key factor determining market competitiveness

Jia Genliang believes that so far, the information technology revolution is mainly manifested in the replacement of mental labor, and in the future, scientific and technological advances such as artificial intelligence will further liberate people's physical labor in manufacturing, agriculture, circulation and other fields, and gradually realize the overall intellectualization of the national economic system. Take the robot industry as an example. According to the prediction of the International Federation of robot industries, China will become the largest industrial robot market in the world in the near future. However, it is worth noting that at present, foreign robot brands account for 90% of China's domestic market, and Germany, the United States, Japan and other countries still occupy the international commanding heights in the field of informatization and manufacturing digitalization