Posted on 12/11/2022 7:52:58 PM PST by Coronal
The Department of Energy plans to announce Tuesday that scientists have been able for the first time to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain — a major milestone in the decades-long, multibillion dollar quest to develop a technology that provides unlimited, cheap, clean power.
The aim of fusion research is to replicate the nuclear reaction through which energy is created on the sun. It is a “holy grail” of carbon-free power that scientists have been chasing since the 1950s. It is still at least a decade — maybe decades — away from commercial use, but the latest development is likely to be touted by the Biden administration as an affirmation of a massive investment by the government over the years.
Huge amounts of public and private funds have been funneled into the fusion race worldwide, with the aim of ultimately manufacturing fusion machinery that could bring electricity to the grid with no carbon footprint, no radioactive waste and far fewer resources than it takes to harness solar and wind power. Beyond the climate benefits, promoters say it could help bring cheap electricity to impoverished parts of the world.
“To most of us, this was only a matter of time,” said a senior fusion scientist familiar with the work of the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where the discovery was made.
The development was first reported by the Financial Times on Sunday. It was confirmed by two people familiar with the research, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid getting ahead of the official announcement. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was slated make the announcement Tuesday at a media event billed as the unveiling of “a major scientific breakthrough.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I declare shenanigans.
Investigating now.
Someone should ping Kevmo, if his head didn’t already explode...
What are they building the research materials, equipment, etc out of??
Oh, and this means spend more money.
Remember we built the atomic bomb in a little under four years.
Only 19.99 years left to the first fusion nuclear reactor now that they have achieve net energy.
Nuclear fission is a lot easier than fusion. Heavy atomic isotopes want to split, it doesn’t take much to encourage them. Forcing two atomic nuclei to fuse is far more difficult.
Does not fall in the parameters of controlling the population by limiting power usage.
So maybe in 50 years. Or 100 years. We might be able to build a fusion reactor today. But it's not going to be cheap. In meantime, oil is the way to go. And if you're cool with the risks that comes with radiation, nuclear energy is an excellent alternative and it's "carbon-free".
Nuclear fission has been doing this since November 1942, the Fermi Fission reactor in Chicago beneath the stadium and thus forth the atomic bomb. The physicists were right.
Nuclear fission works and is an incredible source of energy. But it is politically incorrect. Fusion will be great when economically feasible and this may or not be achieved. Fission is and it works and is economical as is oil and coal.
ALL GOVERNMENT DECISIONS ARE POLITICAL!
Can’t fall for it again...
“It is still at least a decade — maybe decades — away from commercial use...”
Of course....
Nuclear Energy bump for later...
They’ll tell us anything to get us to go along with their evil machinations. (And some will believe them)
Why does this feel like a red herring to make people give up their internal combustion engines and fossil fuels?
Or does the net energy gain also include the energy required to maintain the magnetic field, the energy losses in converting fusion energy to useful work, etc.?
Some estimates are that workable fusion reactors may have to release at least 20X the energy directly used to fuse the elements in order to account for all of the other losses in a typical real-world power plant.
> carbon-free power that scientists have been chasing since the 1950s.
Lefties will find a reason to oppose it with or without carbon.
:^)
Sounds like no one is buying solar so this is the next scam to kill fossil fuel
Ping!..................
Dang! And here I thought it was only 30 years away!...................
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