General > General Technical Chat
Do we have a Fusion thread?
EPAIII:
How close are we to fusion power?
I believe the generally accepted number is 93 million miles / 149 million Km.
I don't know what the big deal is all about. Earth has been running on fusion power for billions of years.
JohanH:
--- Quote from: EPAIII on December 17, 2022, 08:11:38 am ---How close are we to fusion power?
I believe the generally accepted number is 93 million miles / 149 million Km.
I don't know what the big deal is all about. Earth has been running on fusion power for billions of years.
--- End quote ---
That's quite correct. There are also calculations that if humanity increases electricity and energy usage produced by fossil and nuclear, in a few hundred years the heat from all this will begin to affect the temperature on earth. The only way to not heat up the planet is to use existing energy that is transferred here by the sun, i.e. convert it using solar panels, wind turbines, water and wave turbines, photosynthesis (?). Now I don't know how this plays together with the climate change from green house gas. Partly the effect is probably reduced when transitioning to more climate friendly energy sources. But if all energy sources were replaced with nuclear fusion, there could be a problem in the future.
SiliconWizard:
Yeah it's a very common misconception that what we need is a "clean" and unlimited source of energy (I mean, apart from the sun, which is one and has served Earth very well until now, but there will always be limits in how we can leverage it.)
If we ever get to that point and really master nuclear fusion, it will likely NOT be good news for the future of humankind. If it's really virtually unlimited (and thus, eventually very cheap), we're just gonna end up blowing ourselves up one way or another. It's not even sci-fi or pessimism, it's mainly just basic thermodynamics.
It is sad to see that most people, including the world "leaders", do not understand anything about energy, yet keep talking about it.
BrianHG:
Wow, see Helion's actual 6th generation reactor.
Real Engineering got the first public glimpse and full explanation:
JohanH:
--- Quote from: BrianHG on December 18, 2022, 02:48:54 am ---Wow, see Helion's actual 6th generation reactor.
--- End quote ---
The concept is very intriguing, to generate electricity directly from the magnetic field, without heat transfer, steam and turbines. Pessimistically, there is always the n:th +1 generation prototype to wait for.
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