The reason is the network effect. I want to use signal or rather even an EU based messaging service, but everybody, including businesses, are on WhatsApp in my country.
Laten we dat maar niet doen. Je ziet nu al bij volk dat op partijen als FVD, JA21, BVNL en PVV stemt dat het idee heerst dat links de oorzaak is van alle problemen. Als je ze er op wijst dat de VVD de hoofdrol speelt, scharen ze de VVD voor het gemak onder links.
Véél van deze mensen zijn dusdanig de weg kwijt dat een experiment ze niet zal overtuigen van hun eigen ongelijk.
I was specifically talking about cars that are fun to drive. The one thing I dislike about my BEV is that it's so heavy.
Personally I don't think hydrogen is the way for most personal vehicle applications. Batteries are improving a lot and becoming quite a bit cheaper too. Also many large car makers have gone the EV route and they are king makers. But who cares, the better technology will probably win out.
BEVs are a lot of fun to drive. Car people are nostalgic for burning fuels and roaring engines, but future generations will be far less so. We just need far lighter batteries.
This will hopefully be something like district heating, so a central heat pump that distributes hot water. I don't think hydrogen in on the table. They could add a flow battery to capture more solar energy locally but I don't think that'll be on the cards early on.
But in reality it'll probably be a heat pump per home and a big energy bill for us. Our street was built over 50 years ago when natural gas was plenty and cheap so insulation wasn't much of a concern. We've added insulation under the floors and in the walls, but it's never going to be as well insulated as a modern home.
I don't want my house to be self-sufficient. I want my street and neighborhood to be self-sufficient. I already use my neighbors excess solar for reasonable prices.
My city wants to be off natural gas in 2030 and my neighborhood is in the pilot to transition first. I don't necessarily want a huge heat pump attached to my house, and I don't want a huge energy storage solution in my small garden.
There is city land around our housing block with plenty of room for a solution that can serve the whole street. I hope the city is going to propose something like that for us.
Well, yeah. There are guidelines for new infrastructure, but that doesn't mean everything is up to date everywhere. There are roads that haven't been resurfaced for quite a while that aren't up to date. But on the whole it is very similar everywhere.
It's only a small country though.
There is a Canadian YouTuber who lives in Amsterdam who makes videos about it: http://YouTube.com/notjustbikes
I've lived here all my life so it's nice to get an outside perspective on this all.
This post isn't about open borders, it's about the contrast in bicycle and road infrastructure between the Netherlands and other countries. The open border was just the setup.
The Netherlands has very specific urban/rural (re)design standards which are quite recognizable if you know them.
As a European with a higher than average interest in North America, I can say with some confidence that Europeans don't think about the Upper Peninsula at all.
*Trumpy