For sure, wind is an especially good complement for hydropower, since the latter can store the surplus when it's windy and release it when it's not. Still, wind generation can, like other variable renewables, slip to nigh 0 production from time to time, at which point there must be enough dispatchable capacity to cover the supply/demand gap. Otherwise you get rolling blackouts in the middle of a -20°C winter. Not great.

Here's a showcase of one such day in my country this winter. Average temps below -20°C (which means demand is very rigid due to heating needs) and the wind died down completely in the morning across all of Scandinavia & northern Germany, which meant there wasn't room to import either. Winter prices on electricity ranged between 10-60€/MWh back when our nuclear plants were in full operation. Half have been shut down in the past decade due to political pressure from the green party.

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Perfect is the worst enemy of progress. Right now the highest priority must be to get rid of the fossil fuel plants, and logistically speaking hydropower is simply the best. Mostly because of the built in function of energy storage and ability to load follow, something that the other variable renewable options entirely lack.

As with everything, politicians are at least 15 years too late in their thinking.

Any country that runs a sizable nuclear industry for power generation does have the capability to develop a nuclear weapons programme in relatively short order.

This is false. Sweden does not have a nuclear programme and does have a sizeable nuclear energy sector.

I disagree. Next to hydropower (which is limited by geography) it has been the champion of non-fossil electricity generation so far. Still, the fossil fuel lobby is a powerful foe.

Simply put, we should invest in all non-fossil options, and where solar is geographically viable, it is great. In other places however, where peak electricity demand coincides with the coldest, darkest parts of the year dispatchable production is strictly necessary, which is where nuclear shines.

Tasted maybe a handful of times before 18 including being offered a shot of vodka once. I barely drink even now (23 y.o), maybe 1 unit every 2 or 3 months.

The answer is oil money channeled towards actually useful things instead of vanity megaprojects like in the gulf states.

Eh. Sure.

I was also a teenager on the internet, back when Reddit was a chill place to be. Now I'm an adult, with... responsibilities.

My advice?

Enjoy yourself, have fun, be unfiltered, be silly. The internet isn't that big of a deal as long as you keep a degree of separation between your irl identity and online life. It's liberating especially as someone who was a bit socially awkward.

Still, don't forget mental hygiene. A break is good from time to time. Talk to people irl, take a walk, touch grass.

When people get angry online, I do my best to be a duck, let it wash off, respond either pleasantly or with cheer. Life is too short to be miserable, so go forth and have fun little duckling :)

Some people shouldn't have kids, and some children probably shouldn't be born.

The sad part is that the backbone of our clean energy system in Sweden, nuclear power, is being dismantled by persistent attacks from the environmental party. Since 2000 they've dismantled half of our nuclear fleet, and are commited to destroying the rest within twenty years.

Meanwhile our national grid operator is warning about the potential need for rolling blackouts during the winter demand peaks, which coincide the very coldest days of the year (which are also dark and windless). This winter there were below -40°C in parts of the country, and when the overwhelming majority of households rely on the grid for heating, extended outages have the potential to be lethal. Meanwhile, the electricity cost for a normal single family home can exceed 1'500€ equivalent for a single winter month, which can be compared to the median wage after taxes (3'000€ equivalent).

That's not to mention that many new companies are being refused electricity connections by the grid providers due to them being unable to guarantee electricity supply the whole year (despite massive surpluses & negative prices during summer & windy seasons).

Meanwhile wood fire heating is making a huge comeback, reaching levels not seen since the 80s. 2022 marked the first year in my lifetime when many built up areas smell like wood fire in the winter, and have done so every year since. Industry experts are talking about adding fossil gas turbines as a stop gap measure to shore up the system, until we can either expand hydro by damming up the last northern rivers (currently prohibited due to environmental regulations to protect fish) or increase nuclear capacity again.

...and this was the moment that the Pentagon started developing its own llm, that doesn't complain about pesky things like "killing humans".