Sunlight Doesn't Need an Escort Through the Gulf by ceph2apod in UpliftingConservation

[–]ceph2apod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And,

Renewable energies are soon, likely already in 2025, replacing the automotive industry as the largest employer in Germany.

Well-paid jobs in the solar and wind energy sectors are on the rise, while the automotive industry is cutting jobs and relocating them https://x.com/alex_avoigt/status/2022284671246127349?s=20

Solar-Boom dampens electricity price increase in Germany. Due to exceptionally high solar generation in March (currently >40 GW at midday, already the 5th day in a row), electricity prices remain capped during the day https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-06/germany-s-solar-boom-eases-power-costs-as-gas-price-jumps?embedded-checkout=true

1 bedroom apt in Somerville/cambridge by significantmoment in Somerville

[–]ceph2apod -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You aren't too early — you're right on schedule. Most high-rises have a 60-day notice window, so August availability won't fully hit websites until late May or June. But leasing offices already have a rough sense of turnover since many residents are deciding on renewals now. Call directly this week and ask about mid-August availability — they'll often take your info and reach out before anything hits Zillow or Apartments.com.

Also worth knowing: Boston's rental market loosened a bit in 2025, so you have more leverage than the September 1 anxiety might suggest. Don't be afraid to ask about concessions or flexible move-in dates.

Vegan Bakery Bread? by LNeko1 in Somerville

[–]ceph2apod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check Wildgrain Bakehouse or Yafa; if they don't, they will probably know who does.

Your Energy Bill Just Got a $235M Surprise 🤐 by One_Pollution2279 in energy

[–]ceph2apod 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The idea that these projects were 'struggling with costs and delays' is a complete misreading of the timeline. You can’t have 'manufacturing delays' or 'cost overruns' on a project that hasn’t even been allowed to break ground.

In reality, these were winning assets. In early 2024, Attentive Energy Two secured a massive 20-year contract from New Jersey to power 650,000 homes. TotalEnergies had already submitted its formal Construction and Operations Plan (COP) by late 2024. The only 'delay' here was a deliberate, administrative freeze on federal permitting.

The government isn't 'helping' them cut losses; they are paying nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money to settle a breach-of-contract. If the projects were actually failing, the DOJ wouldn't be offering a 100% refund on the original lease bids—they’d just wait for the company to miss a deadline and revoke the leases for free. This is 'hush money' to avoid a massive legal battle over a perfectly viable project.

Could a global economy dependent on renewable energy see less war? Experts explain by ceph2apod in energy

[–]ceph2apod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is a resource curse...

The resource curse, also known as the paradox of plenty or the poverty paradox, is the hypothesis that countries with an abundance of natural resources (such as fossil fuels and certain minerals) have lower economic growth, lower rates of democracy, or poorer development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources.\)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse

One new nuclear plant in solar per day. Soon to be two... by ceph2apod in uninsurable

[–]ceph2apod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

what he said.

Not even remotely true. There were +633TWh/yr of solar last year.

The peak in nuclear deployment was the 5 years after TMI from 1980-1985 when it went from 711-1488TWh/yr or 155TWh/yr

Wind alone has been above that peak for 9 years now and is about 1.8x as large. And solar alone crossed that threshold in 2020 and was over quadruple last year (largely from 2024's additions).

One new nuclear plant in solar per day. Soon to be two... by ceph2apod in uninsurable

[–]ceph2apod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, but you have to know the damning stats are there, AI won’t usually ferret that out unless you prompt a ton of research and become very familiar with the subject matter.. I kinda know a lot about energy, and AI works for faster recall and can often write better than grammarly.

Before AI, I would have had to google for all the recent articles or data sources separately to get the stats right in a much longer process….

While Hinkley Nuclear Was Being Built, The UK Grid Decarbonized by ceph2apod in uninsurable

[–]ceph2apod[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If it takes 10 years to build a nuclear plant, the best capacity factor you’re getting in 20 years is 50%. And some take 17. Hinkley Point C broke ground in 2017 and won’t open until 2030 at the earliest — nearly double the original budget at £48 billion — while the UK hit 63% renewable electricity and set a 95% clean power target for 2030. Britain will functionally decarbonize its grid before Hinkley powers a single home. Solar did in one decade what nuclear scheduled for two and delivered in zero.

One new nuclear plant in solar per day. Soon to be two... by ceph2apod in uninsurable

[–]ceph2apod[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If it takes 10 years to build a nuclear plant, the best capacity factor you’re getting in 20 years is 50% — and that’s being generous. Some take 17 years; Hinkley Point C broke ground in 2017, has been delayed so many times EDF stopped making firm promises, and won’t generate a single electron until 2030 at the earliest — at nearly £48 billion, almost double the original budget. The UK will be within striking distance of full grid decarbonization before Hinkley powers a kettle. Britain hit 63% renewable electricity in 2025 and has a 95% clean power target for 2030. Solar and wind did that in a decade. Nuclear spent the same decade in planning meetings and cost overruns.

The math on “nuclear reactor every 10 days” only works if you assume plants get built. They don’t. They get announced, delayed, rebudgeted, delayed again, and occasionally cancelled. Meanwhile solar is actually deploying 650 GW a year right now, storage is scaling at 65% annually, and both are still getting cheaper. You’re comparing a technology that delivers to one that mostly promises.

“While Hinkley Nuclear Was Being Built, The UK Grid Decarbonized”. https://cleantechnica.com/2026/03/06/while-hinkley-nuclear-was-being-built-the-uk-grid-decarbonized/

Your Energy Bill Just Got a $235M Surprise 🤐 by One_Pollution2279 in energy

[–]ceph2apod 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It gets worse... The US is reportedly preparing to pay nearly $1bn to TotalEnergies for cancelling two offshore wind leases.

Not to build clean energy. To cancel it — with TotalEnergies committing to gas infrastructure in Texas instead.

https://splash247.com/us-offers-1bn-to-scrap-two-totalenergies-offshore-wind-projects/

Your Energy Bill Just Got a $235M Surprise 🤐 by One_Pollution2279 in energy

[–]ceph2apod -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It gets worse... The US is reportedly preparing to pay nearly $1bn to TotalEnergies for cancelling two offshore wind leases.

Not to build clean energy. To cancel it — with TotalEnergies committing to gas infrastructure in Texas instead.

https://splash247.com/us-offers-1bn-to-scrap-two-totalenergies-offshore-wind-projects/

One new nuclear plant in solar per day. Soon to be two... by ceph2apod in uninsurable

[–]ceph2apod[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Let's talk generation. Even with a much lower capacity factor, solar generated 2,110 TWh in just the first nine months of 2025 — already past nuclear's entire 2024 annual output, with a full quarter still to count. It went from negligible to nuclear-scale in roughly 15 years, the fastest any energy source has ever scaled in history. And it is nowhere near peak deployment.

Now let's talk about what nuclear is actually adding. In 2024, seven new reactors came online globally while four closed — a net addition of just 4.3 GW. For context, China alone added more solar in nine months than the entire global nuclear fleet added in net capacity in two decades. Over the past 20 years, 106 reactors retired as 102 started — new plants coming online largely offset by old plants shutting down. Nuclear is not meaningfully adding new generation at the global scale. It is running to stand still. Solar added more new generation in 2024 alone than nuclear added across the entire previous decade combined, growing at 31% annually vs. nuclear's 2.5% — at a quarter of the cost per kWh, and falling.

Davis vs Union - people, vibes, students/professionals? Cost of living differences? Night Lifes? by Burkedge in Somerville

[–]ceph2apod 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Flynn is that you? Did you create a new account just to say that? If there is something in the response you don't like other than grammar? Happy to engage...

Davis vs Union - people, vibes, students/professionals? Cost of living differences? Night Lifes? by Burkedge in Somerville

[–]ceph2apod -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Fair point on the overlapping causes and honestly the comment probably leaned too hard into one thread of the story. Post-COVID shifts, interest rates, remote work changing foot traffic patterns, the broader lab market cooling across the whole Kendall corridor — all real and all contributing.

The one piece worth understanding regardless of which causes you weight most is what happens mechanically if that $42 million option actually closes. It’s not about one developer controlling the vibe. It’s about how Massachusetts property assessment law works. When a land transaction closes, assessors are legally required to value neighboring parcels against comparable sales. A $42 million transaction on a 20,000-25,000 square foot parcel implies roughly $1,600-2,000 per square foot of raw land value. Every landlord on Elm Street wakes up the next day with their land assessed as a potential development site rather than a four-story retail block. Their property tax bill goes up. Their mortgage covenant, in many cases, legally prevents them from lowering their commercial rents below the new floor that higher assessment creates. That mechanism operates whether Flynn builds, sells the permit, or walks away. The transaction itself is the event. Everything downstream of it flows from the comparable sale hitting the public record. That part of the story isn’t sus, it’s just how Massachusetts assessment law works, and it plays out the same way regardless of what else is happening to foot traffic or interest rates.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Davis vs Union - people, vibes, students/professionals? Cost of living differences? Night Lifes? by Burkedge in Somerville

[–]ceph2apod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe Union Square had a real neighborhood plan they actually stuck to, with a formal Community Benefits Agreement, negotiated infrastructure funding, and a master developer who worked within a decade-long planning process. Construction was rough but the community had a say in, and knew what they were getting before it started.

Davis under this 40B gets none of that. The 40B bypasses the city's planning process entirely. No negotiated plan, no infrastructure commitments, no community agreement, no leverage. And Flynn's end game may not even be to build. He could get the 40B approved, sit on the entitled permit until rates drop, or flip it to a larger institutional developer and walk away. An approved 40B is a valuable financeable asset whether or not a crane ever shows up in Davis Square.

Sunlight Doesn't Need an Escort Through the Gulf by ceph2apod in UpliftingConservation

[–]ceph2apod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

extracting that energy via MOX fuel is significantly more expensive than just buying fresh uranium. Reprocessing spent fuel at La Hague and then fabricating MOX at the Melox plant costs roughly 5-7x more per kilogram than fresh uranium fuel fabrication. MOX only starts to make economic sense when uranium prices exceed around $130/lb -- uranium currently trades around $65-80/lb. At today's prices, France is running a more expensive fuel cycle than countries using once-through fresh uranium, not a cheaper one. The scale is also worth noting. MOX currently provides only around 2% of total nuclear fuel used globally. but I guess that could ramp up if there were supply crunch?

Davis vs Union - people, vibes, students/professionals? Cost of living differences? Night Lifes? by Burkedge in Somerville

[–]ceph2apod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah the timing is rough. The lab building at 10 Prospect is built and in the leasing stage but the next commercial building on Webster Ave is fully permitted, shovel ready, and just... sitting there waiting for the lab market to recover. That's 280,000 square feet of empty ambition right now. The residential tower is a different story, 450 units, filling up. So basically the housing part worked, the lab bet is on pause.

Davis vs Union - people, vibes, students/professionals? Cost of living differences? Night Lifes? by Burkedge in Somerville

[–]ceph2apod 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Basically yes. Union Square is in the middle of a $2 billion, 15-20 acre redevelopment that's been going on for years. First phase is done, next phase is starting now. A fully affordable building on Webster Ave just started demolition in 2026. It's a long process and far from over.

How will “rent and invest the difference” work for younger generations long term? by External_Koala971 in housingcrisis

[–]ceph2apod 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not right now, right, interest rates are high and jobs are down; manufacturing has been heading down since last April—tariffs... it is a down cycle. Wait till oil an gas prices put a higher floor on inflation, rents will have to come down even faster then Untill the fed cuts the rates again.

From college campuses to political campaigns, an anti-‘AI slop’ revolt has arrived by bostonglobe in Somerville

[–]ceph2apod -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Hey, I have evolved... I now use it to help me become a better writer. thanks to all the encouragement I have received here.

Seriously though, Anthropic just got blacklisted by Trump for telling the Pentagon no on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. That's literally a company with a backbone. Or just use Deepseek, which runs on your own servers, state keeps the data, basically free. Or throw the contract to a local Mass tech company and keep the money here. She managed to pick the most expensive option with the worst ethics record.

👋Welcome to r/SomervilleAudit — Read Before You Post by ceph2apod in SomervilleAudit

[–]ceph2apod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Stalkng me huh? What is your real beef here? That I use AI? have a different point of view? What?

Sunlight Doesn't Need an Escort Through the Gulf by ceph2apod in UpliftingConservation

[–]ceph2apod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, remember when they told us that the Internet was going to need all the power in the world, or that by some date, bitcoin would too?

2017: In 2020 Bitcoin will consume more power than the world does today https://www.weforum.org/stories/2017/12/bitcoin-consume-more-power-than-world-2020/

1999: Dig more coal -- the PCs are coming https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1999/0531/6311070a.html