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by Tuna-Fish 55 days ago
> HVDC

Sorry, no. Our recent experiences during the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine showed us that we cannot trust energy sources outside our own borders.

> overbuild solar

The effective sunlight in November in Finland is measured in single-digit hours per month. That's not a joke, or an exaggeration. Solar is completely out of the question.

Right now, the only carbon-free solution is fission. Fusion potentially adds another, but that's far off still.
1 comments
dale_glass 55 days ago
> Sorry, no. Our recent experiences during the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine showed us that we cannot trust energy sources outside our own borders.

You could trust Sweden, Estonia, etc. since they're all in the EU. Also Norway. But overall good point.

> Right now, the only carbon-free solution is fission. Fusion potentially adds another, but that's far off still.

I've never been to Finland, but I'm sure there's some wind there too.

But on the subject of war, fission turns out to be a huge vulnerability for Ukraine. Fusion would be better but it'd still be extremely expensive infrastructure that could be very easily disabled. So from the war standpoint what's probably most beneficial is a very distributed usage of wind/solar.

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Dylan16807 55 days ago
> You could trust Sweden, Estonia, etc. since they're all in the EU. Also Norway. But overall good point.

Your neighbors have winter at the same time as you. HVDC only solves this problem if it goes very far.

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Tuna-Fish 55 days ago
> You could trust Sweden, Estonia, etc. since they're all in the EU. Also Norway. But overall good point.

No. I wasn't just referring to loss of supply from Russia. What I was referring to was that when supply from Russia was lost, every country in the EU scrambled to secure their own supply, essentially competing on who could fuck over their neighbors the most. (It was Germany. Germany wins that prize.) No supply outside our borders can be trusted.

> I've never been to Finland, but I'm sure there's some wind there too.

Finland is subject to a weather phenomena where a stable anticyclone forms over the country, resulting in a high-pressure system that's essentially still. In winter, this can result in weeks of dead calm during the coldest temperatures experienced in the country. We already have a lot of wind capacity, and whenever this happens the electricity prices spike sky high.

> But on the subject of war, fission turns out to be a huge vulnerability for Ukraine. Fusion would be better but it'd still be extremely expensive infrastructure that could be very easily disabled.

We are a NATO member, and we have our own long range strike capability. If Russia directly attacks, Moscow will burn, which is why they likely won't. But Putin likes to play these hybrid games, where he tries his best to fuck over everyone without directly attacking.

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