George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 271

Putin rolled the words ’25 million barrels’ around on his tongue several times, as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.

“Suddenly, 25 million barrels. That’s too much. Let’s do about 10 million barrels.”

“10 million barrels? That’s like pissing on a frozen foot. We need production cuts right now. Or, frankly, are we really going to die together?”

Bush growled, his frustration clear. Putin seemed pleased, feeling a sense of triumph. However, Putin also knew one thing: the longer this dragged on, the more it would disadvantage Russia, not the United States.

Yet, the words didn’t come easily, even knowing this. Even knowing Russia was struggling, he wanted the United States and Bush to eagerly consume the enticing offer he had prepared.

“Well, it seems the United States isn’t drilling as efficiently as it used to?”

It was a bit out of the blue, but also quite blatant. In short, it was a roundabout way of saying, ‘We can pump it out easily, but you guys have to struggle with shale fields, right?’ New technologies are always tested for commercial viability. Conversely, if the test fails, the technology also fails. Putin was aiming for that outcome.

Russia had plenty of time to stabilize afterward. They had made some preparations and taken measures to subtly influence public opinion from below, addressing approval rating issues. Methods that wouldn’t significantly increase it, but wouldn’t decrease it either.

Unless he was in a truly desperate situation, Putin didn’t think now was a good time to negotiate.

“Then Russia can do as it pleases.”

Bush conceded quite readily, without anger or raising his voice. This was because Saudi Arabia was still in the picture. In fact, Bush’s voice even seemed detached.

‘Damn those Ruski [a somewhat derogatory term for Russians] bastards. They have absolutely no intention of cooperating?’

There was a reason why they built a storage facility that would normally take at least five years in just two years. When they sold off everything in the storage, I really thought they were determined, but now it seems like it was something beyond mere determination.

If Bush had one miscalculation, it was that he didn’t realize Putin’s hatred was strong enough for him to sacrifice Russia’s future just to spite Bush.

‘But that’s all it is.’

It’s not ‘painful,’ but merely ‘annoying.’ This difference is significant. Of course, if it accumulates, it might eventually become bitter, but by then, Russia would likely be in critical condition or a vegetative state, rather than just bitter.

“We will share alternative energy technology with Saudi Arabia.”

Although it was expressed as sharing, in reality, even if the technology was shared, it was unlikely Saudi Arabia could become self-sufficient. Even the materials that go into solar panels are heavily dependent on imports. In particular, silicon, the most critical component, was openly imported from Taiwan.

Moreover, not all of the installed solar panels were domestically produced. Some panels were imported from Europe, and some from China.

If you ask, ‘Why are they so passive when it’s a project that stakes the future of the country?’ the answer would be that young people aren’t seriously thinking about the future, and at the same time, all of Saudi Arabia’s manufacturing is a complete mess because of that mindset.

If you go to a business that’s even somewhat normal, most of the people working there are foreigners who have nothing to do with Saudi Arabia. Besides, Saudi Arabia is a country where it’s cheaper to burn oil. The day Saudi Arabia runs out of oil underground is too far in the future.

However, that wasn’t a reason not to accept technology sharing or partnerships. Even if it was a distant future, if they didn’t accumulate technology, they would surely be vulnerable to neighboring countries when that time came. They would be left with only bones, all the flesh bitten off, and staggering around.

The world is a place where, if a thirsty person is digging a well, the neighbors don’t help but instead try to snatch the shovel and smash their head in. If you don’t prepare in advance, no one will protect you from this kind of aggression.

However, it was also true that accepting it with open arms was unsettling. For example, there was the issue of public sentiment. They wouldn’t riot just because American technology was involved, but if they became an anti-American country in the future, there was a high probability that the panels would be damaged by citizens who had turned into anti-American terrorists.

Moreover, it wasn’t even certain that solar panels would be effective in Saudi Arabia. Although the desert was ideal for site selection and installation, maintenance was more difficult than anywhere else on Earth.

Solar panels, as the name suggests, use the photovoltaic effect of photons to convert sunlight into energy, so it was obvious that they had to receive sunlight.

But the desert is the home of yellow dust. If the wind blows even a little, a hazy dust settles on the panels. This prevents the panels from receiving sunlight, and panels that don’t receive sunlight naturally can’t produce electricity.

If it’s just one or two panels, it doesn’t matter, but when it exceeds tens of thousands, it turns into a maintenance nightmare. Moreover, you can’t even achieve proper efficiency with a mediocre scale, so it was like a white elephant [a possession that is troublesome or expensive to maintain] as long as oil was plentiful.

Of course, Bush knew this, and he had prepared a compelling offer in advance. It was a plan he had been developing separately from this meeting, but even Bush didn’t know it would be used in this way.

It would have been better to save it, but now there was no need to hesitate. He had a duty to stop this foolish chicken race [a reckless and dangerous contest where neither party wants to yield] with a structure that only resulted in losses, no matter what he had to do.

Bush sighed inwardly, hoping that this would be at least a four-card, if not a royal straight flush [both are references to valuable hands in poker, implying a strong advantage], and reluctantly revealed his carefully guarded plan.

“A 150-gigawatt solar power plant.”

“What?”

Abdullah answered reflexively, because it was such an absurd statement. Even 1 gigawatt was questionable, but 150 gigawatts?

“We have the technology to build it.”

Originally, no such technology existed. However, as a result of Bush’s strong interest in solar power and his constant encouragement, the technology had advanced significantly. The reason he was interested in solar power was high-altitude drones.

This had been discussed from time to time, and it wasn’t Bush who proposed it first, but there had never been a case where a sitting president openly pushed for it.

Therefore, SunPower and Tesla were certainly leading the way in solar and battery technology, backed by the power of the government and substantial capital. It wasn’t at the level of 2019, but at least Bush felt it was at the level of 2015.

“And we also have solar panels that can adapt to your country’s harsh environment.”

The engineers were pushed to their limits to make those panels, but they were appropriately compensated. In fact, they had to discard solar panels imported from Europe because they melted.

Kim Gap-hwan clearly remembered how dumbfounded he was when he saw that in the newspaper. At that time, he was more curious about how the Saudi guys worked in such a crazy environment, but later he found out that Saudi Arabia was doing the crazy thing of running air conditioners in all buildings until the sun disappeared, night came, and the temperature dropped.

“How about it? If you promise to return oil prices to normal, I will build Saudi Arabia’s future on that barren wasteland.”

Of course, Saudi Arabia would pay for it, but Saudi Arabia is a place that burns dollars even when fighting. Money issues were fine.

As if to prove it, Abdullah was visibly affected. He gripped the armrests of the chair with both hands as if holding eggs, and his pupils slightly dilated.

How could he not be? A 150-gigawatt solar power plant? The electricity used worldwide is about 3,000 gigawatts. A nuclear reactor, the epitome of mass power generation, produces about 1,000 megawatts. Do you get a rough idea of what 150 gigawatts is?

This was truly absurd. It even felt like something out of science fiction.

“Can you prove it?”

“We are already building a complex in the country for verification. Don’t you know?”

He knew of its existence. He just thought the scale was small and dismissed it as marketing hype. Even companies that boldly claimed to guarantee a minimum energy conversion rate of 33% often didn’t even come close to 25% when actually used.

The tests run in a laboratory with few variables and the actual installation and operation in the field, where everyday life is full of variables, were vastly different. That’s why Bush’s words sounded so far-fetched. But it was too attractive to simply dismiss.

“I will talk to the working-level staff.”

He decided to postpone the decision for now.

However, Russia and Putin were not going to stand idly by. Wasn’t Vladimir Putin the one who attended the meeting, even though he didn’t want to, because he hated seeing others succeed?

“Aren’t you thinking of getting the shale industry back on track in the meantime and swallowing up Saudi Arabia?”

It was truly direct. But there was nothing more effective than this for Abdullah’s mind, which was filled with wishful thinking. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If such a favor exists, it is only the love of parents.

“It’s not for me to say, but our shale industry is not profitable enough to swallow up Saudi Arabia. As you know, most of the oil from this production increase came from the South, using traditional methods.”

As Bush said, the oil used in this production increase was traditional oil extracted in the traditional way. To get the shale industry into full swing, they needed to address the low oil prices first.

And with this conversation, silence fell in the conference room. The sound of the interpreters looking at each other occasionally broke the silence, but no other opinions came from the three leaders. Bush, who couldn’t stand it any longer, spoke first.

“It seems the meeting is over.”

After saying those words and taking a few pictures of shaking hands and smiling in front of the reporters, the news that the leaders of these three countries had ended their meeting without finding common ground spread all over the world.

However, it goes without saying that a week later, as oil prices gradually rose again, a secret request came to the United States from Saudi Arabia.