Generally, I am skeptical of such claims but the source of this talk – Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works – causes me to be more open minded. You don’t need to understand the physics involved to understand the promise of this new approach to fusion energy.
10 thoughts on “This could be a really big deal: Energy for everyone”
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Religion is usually the ‘excuse’; the issues over which we fight are generally, at their core, economic or tribal ones! (Religion is often linked to tribalism – we see this often, don’t we? One of problems of this ‘dominionist’ stuff is that it is often tied up with the idea of a particular people or nation [or tribe] being ‘God’s chosen one’. These dominionist types have clearly not actually read their scriptures, eg. Romans 2 : 11.)
Back to the fusion story: there are a number of fusion reactors already in operation (the largest is here in the UK, near Oxford), and the big problem is that they need more energy to function than they give out. The hope is that the ITER reactor will ‘tip the balance’ (though not by much – and a circa 40-fold increase in ‘out over in’ is needed for genuine viability); I am really interested to see how Lockheed Martin get on with their pint-sized reactor (ITER will be big, as the LM piece points out).
Religion is usually the ‘excuse’; the issues over which we fight are generally, at their core, economic or tribal ones! (Religion is often linked to tribalism – we see this often, don’t we? One of problems of this ‘dominionist’ stuff is that it is often tied up with the idea of a particular people or nation [or tribe] being ‘God’s chosen one’. These dominionist types have clearly not actually read their scriptures, eg. Romans 2 : 11.)
Back to the fusion story: there are a number of fusion reactors already in operation (the largest is here in the UK, near Oxford), and the big problem is that they need more energy to function than they give out. The hope is that the ITER reactor will ‘tip the balance’ (though not by much – and a circa 40-fold increase in ‘out over in’ is needed for genuine viability); I am really interested to see how Lockheed Martin get on with their pint-sized reactor (ITER will be big, as the LM piece points out).
But without energy issues, what will we fight over.
Oh, nevermind, I remember: religion.
But without energy issues, what will we fight over.
Oh, nevermind, I remember: religion.
News on ITER: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/one-giant-leap-for-mankind-13bn-iter-project-makes-breakthrough-in-quest-for-nuclear-fusion-a-solution-to-climate-change-and-an-age-of-clean-unlimited-energy-8590480.html
News on ITER: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/one-giant-leap-for-mankind-13bn-iter-project-makes-breakthrough-in-quest-for-nuclear-fusion-a-solution-to-climate-change-and-an-age-of-clean-unlimited-energy-8590480.html
Scepticism is understandable: twenty years ago, some were saying “we’ll have this sorted in 20 years’ time” – and we haven’t. However, the ITER project is exciting, and this Lockheed Martin work could prove really interesting.
I’ll keep following this one!
Scepticism is understandable: twenty years ago, some were saying “we’ll have this sorted in 20 years’ time” – and we haven’t. However, the ITER project is exciting, and this Lockheed Martin work could prove really interesting.
I’ll keep following this one!
Could be. This is the other technology he spoke about involving a Tokomak:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-6hJ8sltdI
And the consortium’s website which is building one:
http://www.iter.org/
I suspect that it is what he does not mention, like the heat involved, that still must be solved for. Still the containment issue seems to be one of the most important points. In fusion, you are trying to mimic a star. Any old star has its own containment, the gravity involved.
The sci-fi writers who thought up di-lithium and the problems of plasma containment concerning the powering of a star-ship in Star Trek were, in general, quite close to the problems with which science is concerned today.
Could be. This is the other technology he spoke about involving a Tokomak:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-6hJ8sltdI
And the consortium’s website which is building one:
http://www.iter.org/
I suspect that it is what he does not mention, like the heat involved, that still must be solved for. Still the containment issue seems to be one of the most important points. In fusion, you are trying to mimic a star. Any old star has its own containment, the gravity involved.
The sci-fi writers who thought up di-lithium and the problems of plasma containment concerning the powering of a star-ship in Star Trek were, in general, quite close to the problems with which science is concerned today.