Energy and Supplies

"Callisto Base has a total population of 88,836, mostly of Huaxia descent with a few foreign nationals, and a male-to-female ratio of approximately 1:0.6."

It's not surprising that Callisto Base, being a Huaxia space base, is mostly populated by Chinese nationals, but the gender imbalance is indeed severe.

This is unavoidable, as it's the case with most of the major bases.

Yue Yuan continued, "Because of the timely response, the starch production equipment within the base was well-preserved. If we produce starch as usual, we can produce about 30 tons of starch per day."

"Normally, with some external supplies of vegetables and meat, we could basically sustain the base's needs. But now that's all gone. We can only rely on the base's cultivation gardens for vegetables, and we have no source of meat at all except for the base's meat reserves. According to the Logistics Department's data, we can maintain normal supplies for about two months, but that's not the biggest problem. After all, we won't die immediately without meat. The biggest problem is that we lack energy."

As the farthest base, Callisto Base's equipment is indeed more complete than other bases, but not to the extent of raising pigs and cattle on it, so meat is basically shipped from Earth.

The laboratory does have a number of experimental animals like White Mice, but even if we could process the White Mice into meat products, it might not meet the needs of so many people.

Moreover, we can't eat them all, or the survivors would be cutting off their own lifeline. Various medical experiments require them, unless you want to start human experiments right away, which is unrealistic.

Embryo cultivation is one way, and Callisto Base has the equipment and technology for it, but energy is a major problem.

Because when we were still on the surface, we could use the Nuclear Power Plant on the ground and various Solar Sail Power Generation for energy, but now all of that is gone.

"In addition to that, the reserves of carbon dioxide and water are also a major problem." Yue Yuan paused, looking at the scholars, doctors, and personnel from the engineering and Logistics Departments. "So now, I need a reasonable plan, a reasonable allocation plan, a reasonable energy utilization plan, and... a possible solution to the energy shortage."

Yes, Yue Yuan kept talking about energy.

Because with energy, Callisto Base basically wouldn't have to worry about food.

The mature industrialized artificial starch synthesis technology has greatly solved the space food problem. As long as there is energy, carbon dioxide, and the corresponding biological enzymes, starch can be produced continuously.

This was the case with all the major bases before, and the base's plantations were used to grow fruits, vegetables, and a small amount of wheat and rice, basically ensuring the human body's need for cellulose and other trace elements.

Only meat cannot be grown, and it all depends on Mother Earth for supply.

The original carbon dioxide and water at Callisto Base, in addition to the recycled carbon dioxide exhaled by the human body, were directly mined from the ice layer on Callisto.

Now that this source is gone, relying solely on the carbon dioxide produced by the base's population through breathing is clearly not enough to meet the needs of industrial starch production.

"Two months is enough. In another month, the aftershocks of the solar flare will be over. Our engineering equipment hasn't suffered too much damage. A month is enough for us to dig back to the surface," said one doctor.

"What about after we get back to the surface?" another person asked.

"Of course, we'll continue to mine from the Callisto ice layer. Is there a problem?" the doctor replied.

That person sighed, "It's hard to say whether there's still an ice layer on the surface of Callisto now!"

This sentence made everyone think of the surging magma.

Yes, the intense energy impact may have vaporized the ice layer and blown it all away. A planet with Callisto's mass can't retain an atmosphere.

But as long as we get back to the surface, with a planet as big as Callisto, there's still a lot of hope. The most important thing right now is energy, whether we're living underground now or returning to the surface in the future.

"Ultimately, it's still an energy problem," Yue Yuan said. "Although the Energy Storage Station has reserves, it can only last for a month at most. Optimistically, we can dig back to the surface in a month, but it's impossible for us to build a power station the moment we get back."

"Don't we have Nuclear Fission Batteries?" someone asked.

"Yes, we do, but their power is too low. The base's inventory of nuclear batteries can only meet the needs of weak or small electrical equipment. We can't use them for heavy industrial equipment like large heavy machinery, excavators, loaders, hammers, and pile drivers," Yue Yuan explained.

Nuclear batteries, also known as atomic batteries, are based on the principle of converting the heat generated by the decay of radioactive isotopes into electricity.

This phenomenon is called the Seebeck Effect, also known as the First Thermoelectric Effect.

Nuclear Fission Batteries do not produce large amounts of nuclear waste like Nuclear Power Plants. They are considered harmless clean energy and are non-renewable resources.

Nuclear battery technology matured at the end of the last century. With its long life and no need for charging, it has been widely used in various remote detectors. A nuclear battery can basically last for decades or even hundreds of years.

But it also has a fatal flaw: its power is too low. To generate more electricity, you have to increase its mass, and too much mass is undoubtedly a huge burden for various devices.

After all, you can't put a battery weighing several tons or even dozens of tons on a transport vehicle.

So even though humanity's footsteps have reached Jupiter's orbit and established bases, Nuclear Fission Batteries have not been used in large vehicles.

Of course, because mature technology has solved the safety problem, Nuclear Fission Batteries are now widely used in some small devices. For example, mobile phones and tablets no longer need charging, and even many small appliances that use the principle of light-emitting diodes for lighting use these batteries.

So the Callisto Base doesn't have to worry about power outages for lighting and small appliances.

Correspondingly, the energy problem Yue Yuan is talking about is not this kind of problem. He is talking about the power consumption of large-scale heavy industry and large-scale living material production equipment.

In the past, these things were powered by the Nuclear Power Plant or Solar Sail Power Generation on the surface of Callisto. Now, because of the disaster, everything is gone, which has caused an energy shortage.

At this time, an expert stood up and expressed his opinion: "Regarding the energy problem, I think we can consider a parallel form of Small-Scale Radiation Power Generation. Our inventory of nuclear fuel is enough for us to support until the power station is built."

This statement sparked deep thought among everyone.

The basic principle is similar to that of a Nuclear Fission Battery, but this seems to be the most feasible solution for Callisto Base at the moment.

The Nuclear Power Plant originally built on the surface of Callisto has been destroyed. Due to heat dissipation, safety concerns, and space limitations within the base, it's not possible to build a Nuclear Power Plant inside. This method, however, is the best way to solve the problem using existing resources.