'Viele Wenige machen ein Viel' - Eine Kleingeschichte der Wasserkraft im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert

“少数人赚很多钱”——19 世纪和 20 世纪水力发电简史

• 批准号: 389626439
• 负责人: Dr. Christian Zumbrägel
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Fachgebiet Technikgeschichte
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Publication Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-31 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/389626439?language=en
• 关键词: Viele; Wenige; machen; ein; Viel

Utilizing the energy of flowing water for milling purposes shaped the character of our preindustrial cultural landscape for centuries. Although much has been written about the early applications of waterpower, we know comparatively little about the continued usage of smalscale plants in the 19th and 20th centuries. Historians of later times have, moreover, tended to focus their attention on the predominant fossil-based energy regime or the large-scale harnessing of flowing waters for the production of waste amounts of electricity—known as "white coal". Less impressive and perhaps backward, the long-proven energy production of "old Technologies", like small-scale grain and hammer mills driven by waterwheels has been widely neglected. My research aims at recovering the technological transformation of small hydraulic power engines during the time of turbinization and electrification by comparing different waterscapes on a local level. It seeks to determine, whether and to what extent, owners of existing small mechanical mills modified their own operations when faced with innovative opportunities in energy distribution. Historians discussing such modifications have mostly highlighted radical shifts, e.g. from old and inefficient wooden waterwheels to efficient coal-powered steam engines or rationally designed water turbines. This dissertation revises mainstream narratives of hydropower history by taking the appropriation of small-scale engines in their daily life as its point of departure. By contrast, I argue that "old Technologies" made a significant contribution to the energy supply until well into the 20th century by turning electricity generators as well as delivering direct mechanical power to their own operations, particularly in rural territories of the German "energy landscapes", which lacked accessibility to civilization and infrastructure. The shift from traditional hydraulic prime-movers to "modern" turbine-technology was not a clear-cut, linear transition but rather a gradual process with many by-paths and "reverse salients", generating a number of hybrids. Referring to a cultural history of technology I trace the persistence and widespread adoption of "old Technologies" in the age of scientific turbine-research and -innovations. This fusion of science, environmental and technological history introduces a more user-focused perspective inside technology studies and reveals how attention to users and the practical aspects of appropriating technolog can illuminate the history of hydropower in the 19th and 20th century.

几个世纪以来，利用流水的能量来铣削目的塑造了我们工业前文化景观的特征。尽管关于水力的早期应用已经写了很多文章，但我们对19世纪和20世纪Smalscale植物的持续使用的了解相对较少。此外，后来的历史学家倾向于将注意力集中在主要的化石能量制度上，或者大规模利用流动的水利用浪费的电力，称为“白煤”。令人印象深刻的，可能落后的，“旧技术”的长期能源生产，例如由水轮驱动的小型谷物和锤子磨坊被广泛忽视。我的研究旨在通过比较局部水平的不同水域进行涡轮化和电气化期间，在涡轮化和电气化期间恢复小型氢然动力发动机的技术转变。它试图确定现有小型机械工厂的所有者是否在面对能源分配的创新机会时修改了自己的运营。讨论这种修改的历史学家主要强调了激进的转变，例如从旧的和无效的木制水车到有效的煤炭动力蒸汽机或合理设计的水轮机。本论文通过将小规模发动机的适当性作为其出发点，来修改水电历史的主流叙事。相比之下，我认为，“旧技术”为能源供应做出了重大贡献，直到20世纪，直到20世纪都将发电机转动并为自己的运营传递直接的机械力量，尤其是在德国“能源景观”的粗糙领域，这是缺乏文明和基础设施的可及性。从传统的氢化原则转变为“现代”涡轮技术不是明确的，线性的过渡，而是一个具有许多旁注和“反向显着”的分级过程，产生了许多杂种。在技​​术的文化历史上，我追踪了科学涡轮研究和灌输时代的“旧技术”的持久性和宽度采用。科学，环境和技术历史的这种融合介绍了技术研究中更具用户为中心的观点，并揭示了对用户的关注以及适应技术的实际方面如何阐明19世纪和20世纪水力发电的历史。