adutchman's recent activity

  1. Comment on Government-appointed Norwegian Nuclear Committee says no to nuclear power – should build up expertise that will make it easier to make such a decision in the future in ~enviro

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    The part about hydro is true, but all the other advice is still the same, especially these points. TLDR: Nuclear is prohibitively expensive, hydro (or solar + wind + storage) is way cheaper. Even...

    The part about hydro is true, but all the other advice is still the same, especially these points.

    TLDR:

    1. Nuclear is prohibitively expensive, hydro (or solar + wind + storage) is way cheaper.
    2. Even if it weren't, we need to act now due to the Paris accord and nuclear takes to long to build
    3. SMRs do not solve this today, but they might in the future, see above.

    This has been my take on nuclear for a while now. My personal conclusion: invest heavily in renewables and storage today, keep looking into nuclear/SMRs/molten salt/fusion for a possible future.

    A key rationale is economics. The committee’s calculations show that nuclear power, even under the most optimistic assumptions, requires electricity prices of at least NOK 1.13 (EUR 0.10) per KWh to cover costs. The estimated long-term electricity price in Norway is NOK 0.50-0.80.
    “If nuclear power is to be established in Norway, private investors must find it profitable to invest in nuclear power. In that case, investment costs must be 70-80% lower,” the report states.

    ”In any case, nuclear power production will not come in time to help achieve the Paris Agreement’s 2050 goals, and we must expand other sources in the meantime. And we have other alternatives. These include upgrading hydropower plants and expanding wind and solar power,” the committee concludes.

    Much of the Norwegian debate has centered on small modular reactors (SMRs). The committee is skeptical of these as an immediate solution: no factories have been established, no models have been standardized, and it is highly uncertain how affordable SMRs will be.

    Nuclear power is not, however, entirely negative. The committee points out that it is possible to produce large amounts of stable, emission-free power in a small area over a long period. The fact that it is not dependent on sun and wind is also a plus.
    The report makes it clear that building expertise in nuclear power is important.
    This involves strengthening academic environments at universities, participating more actively in international cooperation, staying up to date on technological developments, and considering cooperation with Sweden and Finland.
    ”Therefore, we think the smartest thing we can do today is to build knowledge, not power plants,” the committee writes.

    6 votes

  2. Comment on I love you all in ~talk

    adutchman
    Link
    Take care man, let's hope this madness will soon pass.

    Take care man, let's hope this madness will soon pass.

    10 votes

  3. Comment on Balcony solar is spreading across the US in ~enviro

    adutchman
    Link
    This can become really big, as it's cheap, fast and, most importantly, can be installed without a technician. Thus, it's not bottlenecked by a lack of technician man hours.

    This can become really big, as it's cheap, fast and, most importantly, can be installed without a technician. Thus, it's not bottlenecked by a lack of technician man hours.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Because they would get sued by the EU for monopolistic practices, but I think they should be sued for this as well.

    Because they would get sued by the EU for monopolistic practices, but I think they should be sued for this as well.

    6 votes

  5. Comment on What are people using instead of VS Code? in ~comp

  6. Comment on What are people using instead of VS Code? in ~comp

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Same with TS if I'm not mistaken

    Same with TS if I'm not mistaken

    1 vote

  7. Comment on Norwegian influencer buys failed property development in Spain to build ‘self-sufficient’ eco-community – Modern Eco Village plans to erect 500 homes, schools and shops in ~design

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Now I want to know what a pneumatic smart home protocol look like lol

    Now I want to know what a pneumatic smart home protocol look like lol

    8 votes

  8. Comment on Engineers risk their lives to repair Ukraine power grid in ~society

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Trigger warning: the PoW story is truly horrific

    Trigger warning: the PoW story is truly horrific

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Gas prices soar as QatarEnergy halts LNG production after Iran attacks in ~finance

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Yeah, gas dynamic pricing doesn't make any sense

    Yeah, gas dynamic pricing doesn't make any sense

  10. Comment on Gas prices soar as QatarEnergy halts LNG production after Iran attacks in ~finance

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Depending on how green your local electricity grid is, might be more immune from geopolitics than you think. If you have large electricity consuming device you can shift the usage of, I would look...

    Depending on how green your local electricity grid is, might be more immune from geopolitics than you think. If you have large electricity consuming device you can shift the usage of, I would look into it.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on A rant about how devices handle users with language backgrounds other than English in ~tech

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Fair enough, although I still think it has to do with that. Many folks in the US still see anything other than English (and maybe Spanish) as an exception, not the rule. This is might be even more...

    Fair enough, although I still think it has to do with that. Many folks in the US still see anything other than English (and maybe Spanish) as an exception, not the rule. This is might be even more pronounced in the Silicon Valley bubble. A thing that I do think is largely because of US defaultism, is the hard linking of language/country and localisation. These are the worst examples (monday as first day of the week, date display, etc.).

    2 votes

  12. Comment on A rant about how devices handle users with language backgrounds other than English in ~tech

    adutchman
    (edited )
    Link
    Of course, in every single country, the only language is the standard national language, which is always a single language and immigrants don't exist /s. Especially in Finland, where there are...

    Of course, in every single country, the only language is the standard national language, which is always a single language and immigrants don't exist /s. Especially in Finland, where there are parts where Swedish and Sami have either official or co-official status.

    US defaultism is one helluva drug.

    6 votes

  13. Comment on In under 500 words, a US judge weaponized wit to free the child detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ~society

    adutchman
    Link
    There's a typo in the document: it says 31st of Febuart instead of January

    There's a typo in the document: it says 31st of Febuart instead of January

    3 votes

  14. Comment on How Norway accomplished a near-total electric vehicle transition – almost 100 percent of new cars registered in November were electric in ~transport

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Renault is doing quite well for themselves with the Twingo and 5

    Renault is doing quite well for themselves with the Twingo and 5

    1 vote

  15. Comment on You are being misled about renewable energy technology in ~enviro

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    Great summary! As for his name: he's called Alec.

    Great summary! As for his name: he's called Alec.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on Amazon’s promotion of ‘Melania’ has critics questioning its motives (Amazon has spent 35M on marketing on top of its 40M budget) in ~movies

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    All that's missing is: All praise the Great Leader /s

    All that's missing is: All praise the Great Leader /s

    7 votes

  17. Comment on European electricity review - For the first time the EU produced more electricity from renewables than fossil sources in 2025 in ~enviro

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    In a way, yes. The thing is though, if storage gets cheap enough, simply building more renewables with more storage is cheaper than and about as reliable as SMRs. Also, shifting electricity use is...

    In a way, yes. The thing is though, if storage gets cheap enough, simply building more renewables with more storage is cheaper than and about as reliable as SMRs. Also, shifting electricity use is a big part of the solution, because many of the big consumers can be shifted in time (heatpumps, evs etc). Tha being said, some baseload will always be required so maybe they can fill in there, I just think it's a lot less than people think.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on European electricity review - For the first time the EU produced more electricity from renewables than fossil sources in 2025 in ~enviro

    adutchman
    Link
    This is a pivotal point: solar is surging, batteries are at the brink of a breakthrough and sodium ion batteries are going to accelerate that even further at the end of this year. This is all...

    This is a pivotal point: solar is surging, batteries are at the brink of a breakthrough and sodium ion batteries are going to accelerate that even further at the end of this year. This is all happening after the EU pivoted from Russian gas to US imports which is also not great given recent events. The way forward is crystal clear, to me anyway: solar, wind combined with battery storage will dominate, with sources like hydro, geothermal mixing in depending on geography. As for nuclear: it makes sense to keep them going, but they are barely economically viable today, let alone by the time a new reactor would be finished in a ~10 years. I personally don't see SMRs making a big difference due to the astronomical speed at which solar and storage is dropping in price.

    8 votes

  19. Comment on We are witnessing the self-immolation of a superpower in ~society

    adutchman
    Link Parent
    The whole comparison isn't helpful. What is a median "European" anyway, we're not a country you know. A median Portuguese person is bound to have less income than a Dutchman (pun intended) because...

    The whole comparison isn't helpful. What is a median "European" anyway, we're not a country you know. A median Portuguese person is bound to have less income than a Dutchman (pun intended) because they have lower prices generally. Even comparing, say, a median Dutch person is not helpful. Everyone has guaranteed minimum health insurance with a co-pay of a few hundred dollars vs whatever ridiculous amount Americans are paying nowadays. Add to that, the fact that everything is insanely expensive in cities like LA and I would call the median Dutch persons income "paltry".

    16 votes

  20. Comment on Why should anyone care about low-level programming? in ~comp

    adutchman
    Link
    Great write-up. Two thoughts: There is a ""low level web framework"", it's HTMX. It fills in the gaps of HTML instead of paving over them. Imo, it can and should be used a lot more. Another thing...

    Great write-up. Two thoughts:

    • There is a ""low level web framework"", it's HTMX. It fills in the gaps of HTML instead of paving over them. Imo, it can and should be used a lot more. Another thing is, HTML5 is pretty good today. You can make modals, popovers and such without (or not a lot of) JS.
    • Isn't the Rust community doing what they describe? You can make "low-level" applications using Rust desktop frameworks (and you can run most in the browser as well to boot).
    7 votes