Fusion Energy Announcement Tomorrow.

[cook_dw]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

That tech is at least 30 to 50 years away from being commericalized. It has taken them 70 years to do what they did: produce more energy than the reaction consumed.

With government and private investment only spending $10 billion in its 30-40 years of attempts of making nuclear fusion I too would expect it to take 50 years. I mean we've sent $18 billion (roughly) to Ukraine just this year.. We as a country spend $8 billion on NFL stuff. BUT the reality is if private companies and other countries are allowed to "share" this process and the technology we will see it before 2050 worldwide. Maybe even by 2030. The tree huggers and zero emissions people have been begging for something like this for how long? But with our government holding the "keys" I'd say the free and clean energy won't be as "free" as we hope. This could translate into nuclear fusion powered cars or even powering all the electric vehicles of the world as well as the homes. IIRC a tablespoon of water and the amount of lithium in a smartphone will power the energy output of 1 humans consumption for 10 years. I guess we shall see. I think we will start to see a bunch of major advancements in the next 20 years.

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by cook_dw

With government and private investment only spending $10 billion in its 30-40 years of attempts of making nuclear fusion I too would expect it to take 50 years. I mean we've sent $18 billion (roughly) to Ukraine just this year.. We as a country spend $8 billion on NFL stuff. BUT the reality is if private companies and other countries are allowed to "share" this process and the technology we will see it before 2050 worldwide. Maybe even by 2030. The tree huggers and zero emissions people have been begging for something like this for how long? But with our government holding the "keys" I'd say the free and clean energy won't be as "free" as we hope. This could translate into nuclear fusion powered cars or even powering all the electric vehicles of the world as well as the homes. IIRC a tablespoon of water and the amount of lithium in a smartphone will power the energy output of 1 humans consumption for 10 years. I guess we shall see. I think we will start to see a bunch of major advancements in the next 20 years.

Serious research into nuclear fusion started in 1951. Prior to that in the UK, they fooled around with it back in 1946.

The problem as always been the same: How to generate a mangetic field "envelope" that will contain the fusion reaction. This is a hurdle not easy to overcome.

[83hurstguy]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Serious research into nuclear fusion started in 1951. Prior to that in the UK, they fooled around with it back in 1946.

The problem as always been the same: How to generate a mangetic field "envelope" that will contain the fusion reaction. This is a hurdle not easy to overcome.

Yep - then after that, you need to capture this thermal energy and convert it into a useful form. After 70 years we still can't do that economically with fission compared to other generation options.

[Jeff H]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

The problem as always been the same: How to generate a mangetic field "envelope" that will contain the fusion reaction. This is a hurdle not easy to overcome.

I thought one article I read said they used lasers to surround it vs magnetic field. The temperature of the reaction is pretty extreme so figuring out how to harness that to make power/electricity and still be safe won't be easy or cheap. So does it mean once you turn on your car, you won't be able to turn it off?

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by Jeff H

I thought one article I read said they used lasers to surround it vs magnetic field. The temperature of the reaction is pretty extreme so figuring out how to harness that to make power/electricity and still be safe won't be easy or cheap. So does it mean once you turn on your car, you won't be able to turn it off?

The lasers were used to create the fusion process:

The breakthrough was made at 1:03 a.m. on Dec. 5 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility, 50 miles east of San Francisco. The work uses giant lasers to create heat and pressure like those found inside a star, enough to drive atoms together, releasing tremendous energy.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sc...5dc6f96904ca9f

It sounds like they didn't contain the fusion process - just created it for a brief micro-second.

Three parts to Nuclear Fusion as an energy source: create fusion, then contain it so it sustains itself. And you will need fuel for the fusion reaction to feed on.

[BCreekDave]

Originally Posted by cook_dw

With government and private investment only spending $10 billion in its 30-40 years of attempts of making nuclear fusion....

I wish Elon Musk would have invested his 44B on fusion research rather than Twitter. Seems like the benefit to Tesla or SpaceX would have been more tangible than how many tweets of followers you have. You can't necessarily buy scientific progress, but it sure doesn't hurt.