bluGill

28 ms·

631.
by bluGill 3mo ago
If you compare a house built in 1910 to one build in 1950 you are on balance often right. These days most new houses I see have larger rooms, thicker walls. The modern house often does feel worse made, but as an engineer I know enough to
632.
by bluGill 3mo ago
I've seen places where the roof is an outdoor living space. That is the stairs go up to the top (not just maintenance access, but full access), and there is a safety railing around the top so kids can't fall off the edge. They a
633.
by bluGill 3mo ago
People don't seem to understand hypotheticals. Of course it was never considered by anyone. There was no possibility anyone sane would consider it. However we can still discuss what would have happened if they did.
634.
by bluGill 3mo ago
If Germany had gone to war Ukraine would be split between Germany and Russia now and the pipeline would be running. It is absurd to think there was any possibility of Germany going to war on Russia's side, but the result of them doing
635.
by bluGill 3mo ago
The absurdity is intentional. However it is still correct. If Germany had joined Russia (and got away with it!), there is every reason to think the pipeline would still be flowing.
636.
by bluGill 3mo ago
I think it is clear to everybody that wasn't an possible option. There are consequences for it that though.
637.
by bluGill 3mo ago
Pedantically you are correct. However you are completely missing the point.
638.
by bluGill 3mo ago
It doesn't matter what they wanted to do. What matters is what happened. As a result of their actions they got cut off. If Germany had invaded Ukraine (via Poland?) the gas might still be on. Of course we don't know that becau
639.
by bluGill 3mo ago
I don't know what is legally required, but many in the industry want that. The better we can identify where something comes from the better we can contain issues if we find them later.
640.
by bluGill 3mo ago
I'm confused too, and I often self-identify as conservative. Part of the problem is you think there is unity in any large movement. There is not, only tiny movements with no political power have unity. There are multiple factions is a
641.
by bluGill 3mo ago
Maybe, but that other 70-80% is waste - we could turn it into useful heat, but instead we vent it to the environment. I've seen plans to run an engine in your furnace, thus creating both electric (at 20-30%, and capturing the rest as h
642.
by bluGill 3mo ago
It isn't just the cost to collect, it is also the cost to store. Heat is easy and safe to store at just above room temperature in rocks - but you need a lot of rocks. Just to heat my house for a few days would need tons of rock at te
643.
by bluGill 3mo ago
> Every First World country seems to be following the path from industrialisation, through deindustrialisation Are you sure? Jobs are no longer in industrial companies, and that isn't where the growth is. However when I look at th
644.
by bluGill 3mo ago
The German political decision to not join with Russia and invade Ukraine (via Poland?). Just because it was the right decision doesn't mean there are not downsides.
645.
by bluGill 3mo ago
Not just the cost, also boredom. I have used AI to trace down some tricky multi-threaded issues (someone has to write that cross thread framework, and it was me - fortunately most of our code isn't this complex). I already knew the co
646.
by bluGill 3mo ago
You have to have something to keep the water contained between the two.
647.
by bluGill 3mo ago
Large enough to replace all that water requirements, without making the lake levels so high that it impacts generation. Which is to say your lake at the bottom needs to have a large surface area when full - much larger than the lake at the
648.
by bluGill 3mo ago
That is very much a it depends. The best combined cycle power plants get around 60% efficient. The gas engine in your car is in the ideal case around 45% efficient - but the way you drive in the real world is only about 20-30% efficient.
649.
by bluGill 3mo ago
That depends on what you need energy for. Converting heat energy stored during the day to heat my house at night is easy. Converting heat energy stored into light is much harder (as the other reply stated, it needs high heat and thus is a
650.
by bluGill 3mo ago
So? We can still measure how much power everyone in a state uses, and how much power the state generates. Utah generates a lot of power from non-renewable sources, and I assume (but I can't find data) they have the ability to generate
651.
by bluGill 3mo ago
There is open, and there is operating. This plant hasn't produced power in a while, but if someone wants to it is still open and so you just need to fire up the boilers again. The order just keeps it available to start again, it doesn
652.
by bluGill 3mo ago
Only if there is a very large lake at the bottom. If that lake doesn't exist then you have to build it at great cost. You also lose a lot to evaporation if you do this.
653.
by bluGill 3mo ago
The problem with pumped storage is most of the places we can use it are already taken and have been for years. > pumped storage is still significantly cheaper for seasonal storage Only because most of the costs have been financially depr
654.
by bluGill 3mo ago
I want those to be automated. I don't want anyone to have to work in a steel mill - it is hot dirty work that wears out your body. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. However those plants are mostly automated and I know we
655.
by bluGill 3mo ago
There is a tremendous amount of money in those high capital costs enterprises. High tech can make you a lot of money, but you can also go bankrupt when everyone buys from your competitor - just like everything else. The world needs the th
656.
by bluGill 3mo ago
Maybe. Depends on the plant. Nearly every plant goes through shutdowns for maintenance. If energy is a large cost they work with the utility (and vice versa - when the utility needs to shut down a big power plant they need industry to shu
657.
by bluGill 3mo ago
Cheaper yes, but I don't think Lithium is that cheap, or ever will be. I think storage (even the expensive ones like pumped hydro) will become more useful over time to handle day/night issues. Probably even enough to handle 2-
658.
by bluGill 3mo ago
Or you can just fix the issue that way if IT screws up you are not vulnerable. Or maybe next year you will decide it is useful to connect to the internet.
659.
by bluGill 3mo ago
I have concluded that even though I won't use that key, I still want the issue fixed. You never know if the key I randomly choose next year is the vulnerable one. Worse, you never know if someone else won't make a bug that allow
660.
by bluGill 3mo ago
There are some things that should be configurable and some things that you should not be allowed to configure. Remember you are not working alone. Different people/companies work differently, but nearly every job has - at least once in

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