Posted on 12/13/2022 3:07:11 PM PST by nickcarraway
California scientists may have discovered a source of unlimited clean energy by recreating the process of nuclear fusion which powers the sun.
Researchers at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab in Livermore were able to spark a fusion reaction that briefly sustained itself - a major feat because fusion requires such high temperatures and pressures that it easily fizzles out.
The experiment was performed in August, but reported for the first time earlier this month. Similar tests have been performed before, but this was the first one that generated more energy than was used to create the experiment - meaning scientists could now harness nuclear fusion as an energy source.
The August test actually generated more energy than scientists predicted, and damaged some equipment.
But it could now represent a groundbreaking moment in humankind's move away from fossil fuels like oil and coal to completely clean energy sources that do not pollute the air, or scar landscapes with mining or pipelines.
The ultimate goal, still years away, is to generate power the way the sun generates heat, by pushing hydrogen atoms so close to each other that they combine into helium, which releases torrents of energy.
A single cupful of that substance could power an average-sized house for hundreds of years, with no carbon emissions.
Using the world's largest laser, consisting of 192 beams and temperatures more than three times hotter than the center of the sun, the researchers coaxed fusion fuel for the first time to heat itself beyond the heat they zapped into it - achieving a net energy gain.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
This might work, but wind and solar don’t.
And you still need oil and natural gas for chemical feedstocks. There is no way around that.
And we need better batteries.
I’ve heard about this since the 80’s.
Climate change cultists will still find a problem with it.
They said the exact same thing about nuclear fission 70 years ago.
We made some progress, then what happened?
Must be budget request time. Don’t hold your breath for fusion power.
Ya right. Heard of waste energy? It has to go way beyond break even.
“ The end of fossil fuels when? ”
***************I*****************
Well, commercially viable fusion may be here in a century or so. Fossil fuels for electricity generation? We’ve got hundreds of years of natural gas and thousands of years of coal. But we’ll likely not need them for those lengths.
In any case, we should let UNSUBSIDIZED economics and costs determine when transitions are appropriate.
Fusion can be created for nano seconds in a lab. For commercial scale production of energy , it is the biggest wet dream ever. But it has kept scientists well funded for how many decades now?
I gotta bridge for sale in Brooklyn too. Suckers born every minute. Fusion works on the sun. Not in California. IMO.
briefly sustained itself
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the first time to heat itself beyond the heat they zapped into it - achieving a net energy gain.
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achieving a net heat increase maybe, but not useable energy, or even equal electricity used.
Weasel urinalists
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Is this the dawn of UNLIMITED clean energy?
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Not IS ,,, no,
just the weasel question
” is this ...? “
Spit.
In the 80s there was talk of aneutronic fission using lower power and heat with lithium as a fuel source. But they want to strip mine the planet for batteries instead.
“FREE BEER TOMORROW”!!!!
Commercial fusion power has been 20 years away for the last 60 years. It will take more than this to convince me of a real breakthrough.
So you’re new to this particular party? Because it was going on at least in the 60s if not the 50s.
sus·tained
/səˈstānd/
adjective
continuing
for an extended period
or without interruption.
\
” Briefly sustained “
is an oxymoron.
.
Only 20 years away....
“we are still far away”
Still far away, true, but this is still a big step and a big accomplishment.
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