Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
There. Energy crisis solved. All we need to do are three things:
1. Drill. Here, and up north. And get that crude across the country, to the Gulf, by building the Keystone XL pipeline.
2. Build new nuke plants. Like they have in France.
3. Start bombarding hydrogen pellets with laser beams. I'm serious. From the (UK) Daily Mail:
Britain has joined forces with America to investigate a hi-tech new way of producing 'clean energy' - not from wind or waves, but from firing huge arrays of high-powered lasers at pellets of hydrogen.
The process causes the hydrogen atoms to fuse together into helium - the same reaction found in hydrogen bombs and stars such as our Sun - but in a controlled reaction that could power homes and businesses.
Recent experiments at America's National Ignition Facility (NIF), have produced huge bursts of energy from the technology - using a stadium-sized building housing an array of 192 lasers which fire a 500-terawatt flash at a drop of hydrogen atoms just 1mm across.
Here's what it looks like, or is supposed to look like:
Even more cool:
Laser fusion was expected to take longer to achieve than magnetic containment fusion, but recent results from NIF have hinted that the break-even point in laser fusion might happen earlier than was thought possible. A similar project in the UK, called HIPER, the High Power Laser Energy Research began work in 2005.
'NIF director Ed Moses said, 'Our goal is to have ignition within the next couple of years.'
Ignition would be a self-sustaining reaction that would release vast amounts of energy far surpassing the 'break even' point.
Last week, a single shot of NIF's laser released, for a tiny fraction of a second, more power than was being consumed in the entire world.
To hit the point of 'ignition', that energy release needs to rise by a factor of around 1,000. The technology challenges are considerable.
And even better:
John Parris, of Europe's HiPER project, said 'This is save-the-world science. Fusion is the only serious answer to future energy demands - this is the energy Holy Grail. The human race has a massive, ravenous demand for power. Fusion will be an ideal solution in the clean energy mix for the future.'
NIF, however, is working already. The facility uses pellets of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium - found in 'heavy water' - and tritium, and fires lasers to compress the pellets to a few hundredths of its starting size.
And of course, you guessed it:
Environmental groups such as Greenpeace claim that research into fusion diverts funding from research into proven technologies such as wind and wave power.
Bombard hydrogen with lasers! That's our (slightly clumsy) rallying cry!
It will be technology that makes life better and cheaper to power. Always has been, always will be.
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Comments:
Dec '10
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
Rob et al, I hate to rain on your fusion powered parade, but NIF is (as a commenter above correctly noted) a simulator for nuclear blasts - achieving extremely high energy density for nanoseconds. The 500 terawatt peak power sounds impressive until you figure out that the energy contained in the pulse is about that of a jelly donut.
NIF is a multibillion dollar boondoggle that is struggling to figure out how to keep it alive in future years. They are dishonestly touting energy generation as the application that justifies its continued operation. Not meaning to sound "credentialist" or anything, but I've been a nuclear physicist at Los Alamos for almost 30 years and have such scams come and go. This is a huge scam. So is ITER, Rob. Sorry...
The other commenter above who said "Do everything" as the diverse solution to our energy problems is exactly right. Multiple sources are robust and naturally exploit competitive improvements.
Apr '11
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
Lasers Baby Lasers!
Briar Ann
·
How about: Laser here, laser now! · Sep 12 at 2:24pm
Aug '10
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
Snow Bird
See the following (I didn't make this up):
The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
“May we live long and die out”
"Phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed will allow Earth’s biosphere to return to good health. Crowded conditions and resource shortages will improve as we become less dense."
(I can't seem to post the associated emblem image) · Sep 12 at 2:09pm
Edited on Sep 12 at 02:18 pm
Wow. That is just plain creepy.
My response to the Voluntary Human Extinction crowd: "You go first."
May '10
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
David Williamson: .................
Although solar power has it's place, it's a small one. And money wasted on wind power would be better spent on fusion.
Maybe we will get a better energy policy when Mrs Palin is energy secretary... · Sep 12 at 10:12pm
I do think that there is an eventual larger role for photovoltaics. After some major- but probably solvable- technical challenges are met in increasing collection/conversion efficiency. For example, there are several projects going on to do things like increase the velocity and movement of photons in a cell (MIT) and double the output per applied photon, as well as others. Get a boost from the present 20% range to >30%, and get to volume production, you have a viable market. It's not there now, as Solyndra proves.
The problem is that the Obamaites are trying to jump-start the market using early inferior technologies, sort of like 3/4 videotape decks compared with Flip CMOS-flash cameras.
Apr '11
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
Roberto
Is that so? I'm halfway convinced that they are good to Greenpeace because they are not viable. If these technologies could actually produce sufficient power to run a modern industrial economy I suspect that would quickly fall out of favor with that crowd. · Sep 12 at 5:39pm
I'm way more than half way convinced. Just about the only power generation that all the greenies are on board with is solar power. When the technology progresses to the point where utilities can generate large amounts of electricity from solar - at a profit and without subsidies - you can count on the greenies to find some reason to call for it's elimination. Their motto ought to be "If it's industrial, it's evil. If it's profitable, it's even worse."
Oct '10
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
Rob Long: There. Energy crisis solved. All we need to do are three things:
1. Drill. Here, and up north. And get that crude across the country, to the Gulf, by building the Keystone XL pipeline.
2. Build new nuke plants. Like they have in France.
3. Start bombarding hydrogen pellets with laser beams. I'm serious. From the (UK) Daily Mail:
"Only serious answer?"
So Parris is unfamiliar with the promise of thorium-based nuclear plants? Where enough fuel is available for thousands of years of output?
Research fusion? Sure. But it's been "20 years away" for 50 years or more. Meanwhile, thorium CAN'T cause a meltdown, and it's so plentiful that it is currently a waste item, discarded after refining ores for OTHER metals.
So all you really need to do is:
1. Drill, baby, drill
2. Mass-produce thorium-based powerplants
Oct '10
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
And even THOSE are bad when actual powerplants (as opposed to generic cheerleading) are involved, like the cancelled solar power plant in California, and windmills off Nantucket.
Aug '11
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
From my dad:
'Tis the true savior of our energy crisis. There are enough hydrogen isotopes in the ocean to satisfy all of mankind's energy needs for many millennia into the future!
I have been monitoring this effort since we lived in Livermore (1960), and you were a little girl. The earliest stages of the experimental work leading to this breakthrough were being performed there at that time, and Ed Horton worked on the project while we were there. Last year (in 2010) I had a conversation with Robert Laughlin (Nobel Laureate in Physics, now at Stanford) who is also on the Board of Advisors to Livermore. He told me then that they were very close to a major breakthrough, which this article confirms. Incidentally, The University of Rochester is also a major experimental center for research in this field and was doing experiments therein while we were living in Brighton. One of the main proponents for the Livermore installation during the 80s and 90s was my old buddy Edward Teller, who lobbied congress incessantly for the program.
Thanks, Rob--this post was a treat for father and daughter.
Aug '10
Re: Pipelines, Nukes, and Laser Fusion
Calvin Dodge: So Parris is unfamiliar with the promise of thorium-based nuclear plants? Where enough fuel is available for thousands of years of output?
Research fusion? Sure. But it's been "20 years away" for 50 years or more. Meanwhile, thorium CAN'T cause a meltdown, and it's so plentiful that it is currently a waste item, discarded after refining ores for OTHER metals.
I'm very pleased that my Thorium rants are starting to sink in!
And for those who still haven't heard about Thorium yet, please do watch this.