The Promise of Fusion: Energy Miracle or Mirage? Date: Thursday, June 14, 2012 @ 22:58:57 UTC Topic: General
The U.S. has invested billions of dollars trying to create a controlled form of nuclear fusion that could be the energy source for an endless supply of electricity. The world’s largest and highest-energy laser focuses the intense energy of 192 separate laser beams into an even more intense single beam aimed at a BB-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel, with the goal of creating a tiny star by replicating the process that powers the sun and similar celestial bodies. This controlled form of fusion theoretically could tap into the boundless energy that binds the universe together, creating intense heat and driving huge generators that could supply enough power to run the entire world’s electricity grid in perpetuity.
Controlled fusion would produce no greenhouse gases, would not
require hazardous nuclear fuel, would produce shorter-lived and less
hazardous waste than nuclear reactors, and would pose no danger of a
runaway reaction, because fusion reactions are hard to start and quickly
halt after running out of fuel.
Sound too good to be true? Well, so far it has been.
The U.S. has invested billions of dollars trying to create a controlled form of nuclear fusion that could be the energy source for an endless supply of electricity. The world’s largest and highest-energy laser focuses the intense energy of 192 separate laser beams into an even more intense single beam aimed at a BB-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel, with the goal of creating a tiny star by replicating the process that powers the sun and similar celestial bodies. This controlled form of fusion theoretically could tap into the boundless energy that binds the universe together, creating intense heat and driving huge generators that could supply enough power to run the entire world’s electricity grid in perpetuity.