infrastructure
Building the large physical things -- reservoirs, roads, pipelines -- and why some countries have stopped being able to.
FilterEveryone, all time
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Our readingDesalination for drinking and household water is cheap and uses less energy than commonly assumed.
Their wordsSupplying drinking and household water through desalination is really quite cheap, and uses far less energy than I’d have guessed.
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Our readingReservoirs are not inherently cheaper to build than desalination plants.
Their wordsReservoirs are not automatically cheaper than desalination plants.
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Our readingReserving desalination plants only for emergency drought use does not work well.
Their wordsThe problem is that reserving desalination for emergency situations does not seem to work well.
- 5 days earlier
- DH
David Heinemeier Hansson quoted
Their wordsLinux conquered everything else. All the AI infrastructure that everyone runs off, it's all running on Linux. All the systems, all the servers, everything is Linux. So it was kind of a curiosity that the desktop and the personal computers we were using really hadn't been captured, but clearly it was just waiting for this moment. Linux spent the time from '91 to now waiting for agents to fully flourish as an end user operating system.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Agentic Engineering, Vibe Coding & Linux | Lex Fridman Podcast #501youtube.com 32nd of 41 in this recording
- 8 days earlier
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Our readingThe UK will need to build more reservoirs to cope with future water-starved summers
Their wordsIf the UK is to survive water-starved summers in the future, it will need to build more reservoirs and plug holes in our existing pipelines at the same time.
↗The UK needs to build more reservoirshannahritchie.substack.com
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Our readingBritain has a systemic problem building large infrastructure projects, including reservoirs
Their wordsI think Britain has a real problem with building almost anything, from train lines to houses, and reservoirs to energy infrastructure.
↗The UK needs to build more reservoirshannahritchie.substack.com
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Our readingPrivatisation of the water industry created a disincentive for building new reservoirs
Their wordsThere is also a clear rationale for why privatisation would lead to a drought in reservoir-building.
↗The UK needs to build more reservoirshannahritchie.substack.com
- 5 weeks earlier
- BS
Balaji Srinivasan quoted
Their wordsThis US government can’t build a bathroom in San Francisco, let alone a costeffective fighter jet, destroyer, combat ship, or aircraft carrier.
↗The Network Statethenetworkstate.com 17th of 25 in this piece
- 21 months earlier
- DH
David Heinemeier Hansson quoted
Their wordsFor 2024, we've brought the cloud bill down from the original $3.2 million/year run rate to $1.3 million. That's a saving of almost two million dollars per year for our setup!
↗Our cloud-exit savings will now top ten million over five yearsworld.hey.com