leonidasrup
> There are a lot of good points being made in this thread. I have had a theory that it is in part related to the funding available for lab equipment and computers. During the latter half of the 20th century, in Russia you were very lucky to get access to a “real” computer.
Lets not forget that, selling computers (among other products) to Soviet Union and the whole East block was subject to Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom) established in 1949.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinating_Committee_for_Mul...
https://www.gao.gov/assets/nsiad-90-185fs.pdf
"Western export restrictions on civilian computer equipment were lifted in May 1991."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computing_in_the_So...
During the last decade Europe went for wind and solar, but wind is quite expensive to build. Solar was expensive but is now a lot cheaper, mostly because it's mass produced in China using cheap, still quite coal heavy, electricity.
Still solar and wind are weather dependent and need to by supplemented by fossil electricity production in Europe in the winter months, which is why we see these days market electricity prices around 300 Euro/MWh in Europe. (The plan, decade ago, was to use cheap Russian gas to supplemented solar and wind. Things didn't go according to the plan).
" There is little record of other sanitation systems (apart from sanitation in ancient Rome) in most of Europe until the High Middle Ages. Unsanitary conditions and overcrowding were widespread throughout Europe and Asia during the Middle Ages. This resulted in pandemics such as the Plague of Justinian (541–542) and the Black Death (1347–1351), which killed tens of millions of people. Very high infant and child mortality prevailed in Europe throughout medieval times, due partly to deficiencies in sanitation. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_water_supply_and_sa...
Even today countries without technology for clean and safe drinking water and sanitation have big problems.
" Without better infrastructure and management, millions of people will continue to die each year from preventable, water-related diseases like malaria and diarrhea. "
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitati...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnieper_Hydroelectric_Station#...
This part is quite well known and follows the design of classic thermal power plants.
Radiation heat from the fusion heats-up the inner wall of the vacuum vessel. This heats up working fluid flowing behind the inner wall (in case of CFS then plain is to use a molten salt: FLiBe). Also there a second, more important effect: deuterium-tritium fueled tokamaks release 80% of produced energy in the form of high energy neutrons. Large part of energy of neutrons has to be captured by the working fluid for the power plant to be economically viable.
Heat from the working fluid is transferred using a heat-exchanger to heat water and produced steam, which drives a steam turbine and an electric generator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLiBe
FLiBe as a working fluid is not a new concept and has been already demonstrated in molten salt fission reactors.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181016-why-india-wants-to-...
If you want to try live without technology, try living in Somalia for few months. Average Somalian would change for you at any moment.
For example Denmark is importing lot of wood from Baltics, UK lot of wood from Canada.
https://www.eubioenergy.com/2025/03/13/no-smoke-without-fire...
Under the current aircraft protection rules, the containment building has to survive impact of a fully loaded large civilian airplane moving at speed of sound.
For example testing of samples of containment building was done using acceleration of F-4 Phantom mounted on rocket sledge towards the wall. The wall survived the impact without problems.
But fusion power plants needs to breed and separare tritium, prevent excessive tritium losses in the first wall. The plasma-facing materials in tokamak are subject to very harsh conditions, mutch harder conditions then reactor walls in a fission power plant.
For example Greenpeace had it roots in the oposition to nuclear weapon testing at the end of 1960s.
Mechanical failure or malfunction as a factor 30%
Electrical failure or malfunction as a factor 12%
Collision, knock down, run over or overturn 3%
Intentional cause 4%
https://thedailyautomotive.com/what-causes-car-fires/
Probably the biggest difference between EV cars and ICE cars can be summarized as:
"Electric cars have a lower incidence of fires compared to gasoline vehicles. However, it’s estimated that about one-third of fires in electric vehicles occur while the car is parked and unplugged."
https://thedailyautomotive.com/do-electric-cars-catch-fire/
Electric Car Fire Statistics: What the Data Actually Shows
"The most dangerous moment for an EV is not on the highway. It is in a body shop or a scrapyard."
https://thedailyautomotive.com/how-many-electric-car-fires-p...
"They introduced many innovations as they built their designs, including bell crank suspensions, as pioneers in amphibious tanks, and the use of diesel engines that were less likely to catch fire compared with gasoline tank engines that were being used at the time."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanks_in_World_War_II
The answer from an actual firefighter:
" Diesel has a much higher flashpoint. This means the speed of deflagration is much slower. It cannot convert the diesel to vapour as quickly so can't disperse the fuel as quick to spread the surface area.. "
" Leaking petrol is much more dangerous in an accident. It is far easier to ignite. If any leaking petrol contacts the exhaust or brake discs it could ignite causing rapid flame spread trapping people in the car. Diesel won't do this. "
https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-for-diesel-cars-to-expl...
https://biz.liga.net/en/energy/news/germany-to-build-11-gw-i...
In mean time, it looks like coal in Germany will used for longer.
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/german-regulator-says-n...
"Balcony solar power systems are generally permitted up to a capacity of 800 watts, with this limit referring to the maximum inverter output. Consumers must register their systems in the Federal Network Agency's market master data register. This registration is important to maintain an overview of installed solar energy and to ensure compliance with legal requirements."
" In many EU countries, balcony power plants are already permitted with higher power limits. Countries like the Netherlands , France , and Italy allow balcony power plants with a capacity of up to 2000 watts or even more. These countries have recognized that the integration of mini-PV systems plays a crucial role in achieving their climate goals. The Netherlands, in particular, actively promotes balcony power plants through tax breaks and financial incentives.
Another example is Austria , where the power limits are less strict, and systems with up to 800 watts per module are permitted. Consumers can install multiple modules, each with up to 800 watts. The total output of the solar system is therefore not as strictly limited as in Germany. For example, two 800-watt modules could be used, resulting in a potential total output of 1600 watts . In combination with a suitable inverter, more electricity could be used or fed into the grid. Here, too, simplified registration procedures and regional subsidies support the use of solar power. "
https://www.moe-balkonkraftwerk.de/en/blogs/news/balkonkraft...
The Germans manage their electric grid very well, the last major electric blackout in Germany was in 2006. (More than 15 million clients of the Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE) did not have access to electricity for about two hours on this date.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_European_blackout
On the other hand electric grids in Philippines are quite unreliable and economic losses caused by blackouts are quite high:
" That is a brutal reminder that every blackout doesn’t just kill the lights; it sets the nation’s money, productivity, and economic progress on fire. " https://mb.com.ph/2026/10/26/blackouts-heavy-price-tag-is-ga...
Those links and the associated large costs, were not necessary in the past. I would like to note that, the amounts of electricity produced each year in Europe didn't change much for the past 40 years.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-mix?tab=line&...
I understand the low production costs of solar power, but in many discussions the associated costs of upgrading electric grid and building large scale electric energy storage systems are swept under the rug and not assigned to a electric grid dominated by solar power.
Like this BBC article, which compares costs of solar vs. nuclear, when the comparison should be costs of solar+HVDC+storage vs. nuclear.
" In late 1983, in an effort to bootstrap the GNU operating system, Richard Stallman asked Andrew S. Tanenbaum, the author of the Amsterdam Compiler Kit (also known as the Free University Compiler Kit), for permission to use that software for GNU. When Tanenbaum advised him that the compiler itself was not free, but rather only the university, Stallman decided to work on a different compiler. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCC
Also the whole reason for existence of GNU Project:
" According to Stallman, what prompted him to start the GNU Project was having previously had an experience with Xerox refusing to give him access to the source code of a laser printer used at the MIT Lab, now with the realization that this community of sharing software would end and noticing the advancing spread of proprietary software which had undone the culture of sharing software that had previously existed, Richard Stallman refused to adapt by continuing with proprietary software, and he instead decided that with this skills as an operating systems programmer, he would begin the development of a new free software operating system and to recreate a community of sharing software that was lost, called GNU. "
"Increased rates of component life consumption due to thermal fatigue, mechanical fatigue and wear caused by differential thermal expansion comprise the bulking of cycling (costs)," according to the International Energy Agency's Coal Industry Advisory Board.
"Every time a power plant is turned on and off, the boiler, steam lines, turbine and auxiliary components go through unavoidably large thermal and pressure stresses," the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) wrote in a report on cycling costs published in April 2012.
"
https://www.reuters.com/article/business/energy/to-survive-c...
1. As a US citizen, you would probably not a get permit necessary for entering the Tibet region.
2. If you could get a permit for Tibet region and go there, you would be followed by police officers dressed in civilian clothing. The locals would be quite hesitant to speak to you.
(Source: been there long ago, seen it). China has many qualities, but freedom is not one of them.
https://blog.sintef.com/energy/future-hvdc-grids-yes-please-...
The costs of large number long distance HVDC lines with accompaning invertor stations would be as expensive as a electric generation based on nuclear power.
" It is a well-documented fact that Bill Gates was initially reluctant to take Microsoft public. His primary concern was that the pressures of quarterly earnings reports and the scrutiny of public shareholders would distract the company from its core mission of writing great software. However, a specific regulatory requirement known as the 500-Shareholder Trigger eventually forced the company's hand.
Under Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, any private company with more than 500 shareholders and a certain level of assets was required to register with the SEC and begin filing public financial reports. By 1986, Microsoft had issued stock options to so many employees that it was rapidly approaching this limit. Gates realized that if the company had to disclose its financials anyway, it might as well reap the benefits of being public, such as increased liquidity for employees and a stronger currency for acquisitions. "
https://learn.oreateai.com/learn/when-did-microsoft-go-publi...
India is so big that, you can not claim this for everyone in India. Counterexamples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subrahmanyan_Chandrasekhar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._V._Raman
1. Hydropower 40%
2. Nuclear 27%
3. Wind 22%
https://ourworldindata.org/profile/energy/sweden#what-source...