It is amazing to see that the lithium contained in the battery of a laptop could supply a household electricity for 15 years if it is used as fusion reaction material.
Fusion is the energy source for the sun. However, compared to the sun, producing power from fusion here on Earth is much more challenging. According to energy conversion theory, a tiny amount of mass is lost, transformed into energy as quantified by Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2. This tiny mass can supply a huge amount of energy. Lithium is more abundant than lead or tin in the Earth’s crust, and even more lithium is available from seawater. The problem now is how to control a fusion reaction. Humans can already control a small scale. Scientists are trying to enlarge the scale. It is said a major demonstration of fusion’s potential will soon be built in southern France. Called ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), the test facility is a joint research project of the United States, the European Union, Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, and India. ITER will be the first fusion experiment to produce a long pulse of energy release on a large scale. Another challenge is to find proper materials to provide a long-run reaction environment for fusion reaction. A extremely high temperature is needed just before the fusion reaction is activated. In addition to these problems, people also worry about the safety of fusion reaction. As described in the article, if strong plants can be built and the processes are operated safely it will surely be safe.
Generally speaking, this article suggests that providing energy by fusion is a potential method to solve energy problem human beings are facing today.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
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2 comments:
Although it is challenging to produce power from fusion, as a source of energy, fusion would have many advantages. Since no fossil fuels are used, there will be no air pollution. Secondly, deuterium and tritium, which are required to produce power from fusion, are easily made available. The world-wide availability of these materials would eliminate international tensions caused by imbalance in fuel supply.
If the research is successful and fusion energy can provide energy to the world in large scale, then it's possible that we can abandon fossil fuels. However, anything that involves atom fusion and fission should be taken carefully.
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