Nuclear Fusion as Alternative Energy?
source: http://www.livescience.com/technology/090511-pf-fusion-might-work.html
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- DeliaTheArtist
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"Solar power captures sunlight to create renewable energy, but recreating the sun on Earth holds even greater energy potential. Nuclear fusion — the power source inside the sun — will be attempted in new and soon-to-be-built facilities around the world.
"Fusion is a carbon-free and a virtually limitless supply of energy," said Ed Moses, project manager for the Department of Energy's recently commissioned National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, Calif.
The primary fuel for nuclear fusion is hydrogen, which is abundant in water. When two hydrogen nuclei are fused together to form helium, copious amounts of energy are released.
Pound for pound, nothing beats fusion for generating energy. Roughly 0.4 percent of the mass of the reactants is converted into energy during a nuclear fusion reaction. This is about a million times more efficient than any chemical reaction, and about 4 times that of a nuclear fission reaction.
A year's worth of operation at a 1 gigawatt power plant would only require a quarter ton of fusion fuel, whereas it would require 3 million tons of coal. Although fusion generates some radioactive waste, it is less dangerous than what is left-over from fission reactors.
Nuclear fusion power plants are still decades away, and a wide field of technological options remain — including lasers, magnetic fields and even collapsing bubbles."
"Fusion is a carbon-free and a virtually limitless supply of energy," said Ed Moses, project manager for the Department of Energy's recently commissioned National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, Calif.
The primary fuel for nuclear fusion is hydrogen, which is abundant in water. When two hydrogen nuclei are fused together to form helium, copious amounts of energy are released.
Pound for pound, nothing beats fusion for generating energy. Roughly 0.4 percent of the mass of the reactants is converted into energy during a nuclear fusion reaction. This is about a million times more efficient than any chemical reaction, and about 4 times that of a nuclear fission reaction.
A year's worth of operation at a 1 gigawatt power plant would only require a quarter ton of fusion fuel, whereas it would require 3 million tons of coal. Although fusion generates some radioactive waste, it is less dangerous than what is left-over from fission reactors.
Nuclear fusion power plants are still decades away, and a wide field of technological options remain — including lasers, magnetic fields and even collapsing bubbles."
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Khidrock
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Very interesting indeed!
- 3 years ago
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Khidrock
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RFWtv
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This has always seemed so exciting. Let us see what happens :-\
- 3 years ago
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RFWtv
