Scientists achieve historic ‘ignition’ of fusion to produce ‘nearly limitless’ clean energy.
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The United States has announced a breakthrough in nuclear fusion, a historic step toward the promise of “nearly limitless” clean energy.
“It will go down in the history books,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Tuesday in Washington DC along with scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
For 70 years, hundreds of scientists and engineers have tried to replicate the energetic process of fusing atoms together that powers the sun and other stars.
This is an enormously complex – and expensive – process that is highly unstable due to the high temperatures and pressures involved.
Now, for the first time, the team at the California lab used lasers to achieve “net energy gain,” producing more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it.
Scientists announced the breakthrough, but said there were still decades of work to do before fusion could power our everyday lives.
However, the progress of fusion has the potential to significantly affect the trajectory of the climate crisis, driven by the planet-warming emissions created by the burning of fossil fuels.
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‘We had tough times’: Member of Congress fought back against efforts to defund the National Ignition Facility
California Representative Zoe Lofgren worked against attempts to defund the National Ignition Facility.
“We had some tough times,” he told The Washington Post. “To see that they’ve succeeded in ignition is fabulous. It’s a profound breakthrough that holds the tantalizing promise that we could produce a basically limitless, non-polluting source of energy.”
Commercial fusion power had been attempted for some time, as results from national labs have disappointed some and the prospect of funding for experiments drying up.
Gustaf Kilander December 13, 2022 11:25 p.m
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VIDEO: The lab shares images that describe the experiment process
Gustaf Kilander December 13, 2022 10:40 p.m
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The risk of unguarded optimism about unlimited free energy
The risk of unguarded optimism about the prospect of unlimited free energy is that it could undo the small steps that have already been taken to decarbonize the energy sector and other industries that have relied heavily on fossil fuels.
Just as polluting industries are already considering inadequate carbon capture technology to achieve their own net zero goals, fusion should not be treated as a “get out of jail free” card for the climate crisis
The technology cannot be ready within the time frame needed to meet the climate goals that governments are no longer meeting. The priority of our society must remain the rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
It may not be so sexy, but a combination of energy efficiency, insulation, heat pumps and a wider deployment of renewables is still our best option for tackling the climate crisis and building greater energy security.
Harry CockburnDecember 13, 2022 10:10 p.m
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Laser used in experiments housed in the football stadium complex
The laser needed to create the required reaction was so large that it was housed in a football stadium complex, The Washington Post noted.
It was built after the project ran over budget and faced years of delays.
Producing electricity from fusion would require the reaction, called “ignition,” to take place every second of the day, the paper reported.
Getting to that point would require massive engineering. Just creating a small amount of energy gain puts so much pressure on expensive equipment that it sometimes breaks.
Gustaf Kilander December 13, 2022 9:40 p.m
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“Success, however long it takes, would be transformative”
The long-held promise of nuclear fusion is that it could provide energy in such abundance that it would effectively replace all other forms of energy, bringing free and unlimited energy to people around the world, revolutionizing our societies and helping to generate emissions. the climate crisis on the heel.
Scientists are now cautiously optimistic that we could be witnessing a breakthrough with the potential to radically alter the energy landscape.
Professor Sir Robin Grimes, of Imperial College London, said on Monday: “This is a key step on a possible path towards commercial fusion. It demonstrates and underpins our basic understanding of physics, and is a triumph of the engineering
“However, extracting this energy in a way that can be harnessed and developing the materials that can withstand continuous operation are massive challenges. There is no question, the prize is worth the effort. Success, however take, it would be transformative.”
Harry CockburnDecember 13, 2022 9:10 p.m
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“300 megajoules in the wall, two megajoules in the laser”
The Department of Energy declared the Dec. 5 nuclear fusion blast a success because when the hundreds of lasers hit the cylinder containing a small amount of hydrogen, 2.05 megajoules were fired at the target and 3.15 megajoules of energy came out.
But that didn’t take into account the energy needed to create the lasers themselves, so-called wall-tap energy, The Washington Post noted.
The director of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Kim Budil, said at the press conference on Tuesday that there were “300 megajoules in the wall, two megajoules in the laser.”
Gustaf Kilander December 13, 2022 8:40 p.m
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PHOTOS: Scientists reveal new discovery at Department of Energy news conference
Scientists, engineers and administrators from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories pose for a group photo at the Department of Energy
(Getty Images)
Dr. Marvin Adams, deputy administrator for defense programs at the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration holds a visual aid
(REUTERS)
Scientists, engineers and administrators at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories prepare for a group photo at the Department of Energy
(Getty Images)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Kim Budil speaks during the announcement of a major scientific breakthrough in fusion energy
(EPA)
Gustaf Kilander December 13, 2022 8:10 p.m
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Scientists achieve energy gain in laboratory experiments
Fusion has always been a strong alternative when concerned about the climate impact of emissions from other energy sources.
Fusion combines hydrogen atoms into helium inside the sun and stars, causing sunlight and heat to warm the planets.
The process has been shown to be a clean source of energy in laboratory experiments, unlike fossil fuels and nuclear power which leave behind radioactive waste.
But until now, scientists haven’t been able to retain more energy from the reactions than they used.
On Dec. 5 at 1:03 a.m., scientists used 192 lasers to blast a cylinder containing a small amount of hydrogen, creating three megajoules of energy while putting in just 2.05 megajoules, he reported The New York Times.
Gustaf Kilander December 13, 2022 7:40 p.m
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VIDEO: ‘This is one of the most impressive feats of science of the 21st century,’ says Energy Secretary
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The experiment simulated “the conditions of a star”
Jill Hruby, the undersecretary for nuclear security, said the US has taken “the first tentative steps toward a clean energy source that could revolutionize the world.”
The experiment involved “192 high-energy lasers” aimed at “a peppercorn-sized target, heating a deuterium-tritium capsule to more than three million degrees Celsius and briefly simulating the conditions of a star and get the ignition.”
Arati Prabhakar, Biden’s science adviser, said the researchers “shot a bunch of lasers at a fuel pellet and more energy was released from that fusion ignition than the energy of the lasers.”
Gustaf Kilander December 13, 2022 6:50 p.m