Nuclear Fusion Leads to Green Energy Solution
February 17th, 2010 Posted in Green Living & News
After seeing a documentary like “An Inconvenient Truth,” one cannot help but worry that one day our oil and coal mines will dry up. Then what happens? Armageddon? Will Bruce Willis be our last hope to save the world?
Fortunately, scientists have made a discovery to ease people of their fears of gloom and doom.
U.S. scientists are now even closer to using nuclear fusion as a green energy solution to power the world.
Read on to learn:
What Scientists Discovered
About 2 weeks ago, researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) had a nuclear fusion breakthrough.
They fired a beam of laser energy at a tiny target which had hydrogen fuel isotopes inside. And what occurred was an incredible burst of energy that brings us another step closer to harnessing nuclear fusion as a green energy solution.
How the experiment worked
Scientists aimed 192 lasers at a tiny cylinder (picture a pencil eraser), which contained 2 hydrogen isotopes inside. The goal is to harness the lasers’ energy to create x-rays inside the cylinder. These x-rays compress the isotope target to put them under so much pressure and heat them enough (more than 200 million degrees F) so a fusion reaction takes place.
For most, 200 million degrees is an unimaginable measurement. How could these incredibly hot energy bursts exist, let alone lead to a green energy solution?
What This Could Mean
Now that you understand how this discovery happened, let’s figure out how this could solve the Earth’s problem of finding an alternative to our diminishing fossil fuel supplies.
The record-breaking blast these scientists produced lasted only a few billionths of a second, but produced 500 times more power than the whole U.S. population uses at any point in time. It is also 30 times more energy than any group of lasers has ever produced before.
Before, nuclear fusion seemed like a far off goal. Nuclear fission is used for energy, but nuclear fusion will provide an even better green energy solution.
Why is fusion better than fission?
Basic nuclear fission produces power by splitting atoms, more specifically, uranium atoms. Nations that use nuclear fission to power their countries need access to large amounts of uranium.
However, uranium is not easily mined everywhere in the world. Uranium is rarely concentrated enough that its recovery is economically feasible.
Alternatively, nuclear fusion uses hydrogen, not uranium. Why is this better? Hydrogen is the most common element in the world, making it more accessible for countries to build plants and use nuclear fusion as a green energy solution.
That is why this discovery is so major. It is a step toward clean, nuclear fusion energy for use around the globe.
Now that U.S. scientists have tapped into nuclear fusion’s potential, what is their next move?
What’s the Next Step?
The researchers at the NIF have already begun planning their next move. They now want to experiment with fuel in a frozen hydrogen layer inside these targets. The NIF plans to begin this research this summer.
These researchers have received press for their groundbreaking discovery over the past few weeks, but they are not the only people working towards green solutions. While the world waits for nuclear fusion accessibility, many universities and companies are trying to reduce their carbon footprint right now.
For example, the United Kingdom has been encouraging professionals to strive for a greener office. In the first year, the government cut its carbon footprint so much that it was equivalent to taking 5,000 cars off of the roads. That is a a lot of fuel saved.
If the UK could be this successful just by monitoring the amount of energy they use, imagine how much could be saved if nuclear fusion leads to a widespread green energy solution.
6 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers!
By owilde on Feb 11, 2010
Wow, this is great.
By Tony Wildish on Feb 12, 2010
I’d like to comment about uranium availability, since you mention it. At NuclearGreen, you can see an analysis of uranium resources in the US. Bottom line, the US has a couple of billion tons of it.
Since one ton of uranium can produce about 1000 megawatts for a year, that ought to be enough to last for a while. The world is not short of uranium.
By James Makepeace on Feb 12, 2010
It is truly great news that scientists are moving ever closer to the goal of fusion energy… nature’s own way of manifesting energy on the grand scale !
One small correction is needed to the article above… they fired the NIF lasers at a very high energy level (as a part of the tests before they start the actual fusion shots)… but this was not a fusion shot. It is important to get everything working absolutely perfectly and then to progress gradually up the energy scale with the laser shots. It is not yet known exactly where the laser energy threshold is for triggering fusion and, at these high energy levels, the lasers can easily be damaged by the firing process. Later this year (2010) a carefully designed set of shots, gradually increasing in laser power) will begin, and there is high confidence that, during this sequence (between 2010 and 2012), a fusion burn will occur … with net energy gain. THAT is the next big step along the path to the “Holy Grail” of clean green energy… although the story won’t be over by any means. Beyond what has been termed “First Ignition” there is the challenge of taking this knowledge forward and building a “test bed” which will be used to develeop all the materials and technologies needed for a laser fusion power plant, capable of delivering electricity on the industrial scale. The international HiPER Project is now in preparation for the moment when NIF achieves first ignition. Already ten nations have started working together to prepare for that next big step, and they have partners across the world. There is no shortage of governments who have already recopgnised the huge potential of harnessing the method that nature herself uses to release energy on the grand scale.
The green energy lobby is approaching the point where it really will come of age. Those who really care for our precious planet and who have also taken the trouble to learn how the various energy approaches actually work now understand that, just because fusion energy employs a “nuclear” process, it doesn’t need to be equated to the past horrors of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Nuclear fusion will be a very clean process and will also bring a period of the stability associated with all nations having a reliable energy fuel source for the truly long term.
As consumption of fossil fuels runs ever faster in the developing world it is up to the scientists (and the politicians who can fund their work) to ensure that we develop another way of making the energy we need in time to prevent us entirely ruining our planet. That perhaps is the biggest challenge of all… Fusion is taking longer to master than the life of any government, and it will take politicians of truly exceptional vision and selflessness to help see the work through. There is a need between now and the achievement of fusion energy for many diferent approaches, including renewables and fission too, (since otherwise the lights will soon start going out). But fusion must be mastered, otherwise we will be visiting the most appalling future on our own grandchildren. For me, that is NOT an option !
By EcoSMART Megan on Feb 15, 2010
Dear James,
Thanks for your great feedback! I like your reference to nuclear fusion as the “Holy Grail” of clean green energy. For now, we’ll just have to be patient and celebrate science’s little victories.
By LV on Feb 19, 2010
How incredible. I’m off to learn more and hopefully find the video.
By James Makepeace on Nov 8, 2010
Dear James,
Nuclear Fission should not be equated to the past horrors of Chernobyl, the technology was inherent to that of a weapon.
And to some extent with three mile island, though the engineering put in place of any mishaps worked and there were no casualties.
Concerning fusion, one needs to look at the indirect costs: separating deuterium from sea water and the production of tritium is not green. Within tokamaks tritium build up means your still dealing with nuclear waste. Within NIF there is simply not enough Tritium around and the only feasible solution would be to purchase from military suppliers.
But this is all economical problems, technologically speaking: the true break even point hasn’t even been achieved
The problem with holy grail solutions is that they take attention from existing solutions. I believe more attention should be placed on existing nuclear fission technology for grid systems and renewable energy (solar/wind) for non grid systems.