Fusion reaction produces more energy than consumed.

[Fishking]

This just recently came out and it's pretty cool. I really hope it is true and that it develops even more. If we could ever figure out how to create truly unlimited power then I think a lot of our problems, on a global scale, would be reduced.

However, I'm also a cynic so I feel like either something was missed and it's not actually doing what is claimed somehow or it won't turn into lemon that's worth the squeeze. But...who knows? Here's to hoping.

Finally, a Fusion Reaction Has Generated More Energy Than Absorbed by The Fuel

A major milestone has been breached in the quest for fusion energy.

www.sciencealert.com

A major milestone has been breached in the quest for fusion energy.

For the first time, a fusion reaction has achieved a record 1.3 megajoule energy output – and for the first time, exceeding energy absorbed by the fuel used to trigger it.

Although there's still some way to go, the result represents a significant improvement on previous yields: eight times greater than experiments conducted just a few months prior, and 25 times greater than experiments conducted in 2018. It's a huge achievement.

Physicists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will be submitting a paper for peer review.

"This result is a historic step forward for inertial confinement fusion research, opening a fundamentally new regime for exploration and the advancement of our critical national security missions. It is also a testament to the innovation, ingenuity, commitment and grit of this team and the many researchers in this field over the decades who have steadfastly pursued this goal," said Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

However, I'm also a cynic so I feel like either something was missed and it's not actually doing what is claimed somehow or it won't turn into lemon that's worth the squeeze. But...who knows? Here's to hoping.

I share your cynicism to a degree. The next big breakthrough always is supposedly right around the corner.

However, if we actually figure this out the world we live in 10 years from now could barely resemble the world today.

Thanks for sharing. The article is interesting.

 

[EdwinWillers]

This is good news, for sure. Although it doesn't mean we're remotely at the point of a sustainable fusion reaction, but as the article notes, it is both an improvement AND one done in ever decreasing amounts of time, meaning [POSSIBLY] that we are within reach of the goal, finally.

How we contain 180 million degrees of energy though is another subject - and one I'm sure is on the scientist's minds as well.

 

[Fishking]

This is good news, for sure. Although it doesn't mean we're remotely at the point of a sustainable fusion reaction, but as the article notes, it is both an improvement AND one done in ever decreasing amounts of time, meaning [POSSIBLY] that we are within reach of the goal, finally.

How we contain 180 million degrees of energy though is another subject - and one I'm sure is on the scientist's minds as well.

Hmmm.....bury that shit deep or set it up in space and figure out how to beam the energy down, lol.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

Hmmm.....bury that shit deep or set it up in space and figure out how to beam the energy down, lol.

At that point we might as well build a Dyson Sphere haha.

 

[lemmiwinx]

Most of us won't live to see it but someday we'll have basically free energy turning hydrogen into helium. OPEC and Exxon will cease to exist.

 

[Deuce]

Hmmm.....bury that shit deep or set it up in space and figure out how to beam the energy down, lol.

No reason to do that.

 

[Fishking]

No reason to do that.

Would definitely be more efficient to not have to. Though space might present an interesting option with it providing built-in cooling.

 

[Deuce]

Would definitely be more efficient to not have to. Though space might present an interesting option with it providing built-in cooling.

Space is actually significantly worse for cooling! The only avenue for heat dissipation is radiation. Heat management is actually a pretty significant challenge in space travel. Lots more options down here, and far more effective ones.

 

[EdwinWillers]

Space is actually significantly worse for cooling! The only avenue for heat dissipation is radiation. Heat management is actually a pretty significant challenge in space travel. Lots more options down here, and far more effective ones.

This is true.

 

[EdwinWillers]

Hmmm.....bury that shit deep or set it up in space and figure out how to beam the energy down, lol.

Elon will come up with something, I'm sure.

 

[Deuce]

Elon will come up with something, I'm sure.

Elon Musk is not an engineer and a lot of his ideas are absolutely stupid.

 

[EdwinWillers]

Elon Musk is not an engineer and a lot of his ideas are absolutely stupid.

In keeping with the immediate subject at hand... chill dude. I was being facetious.

 

[Deuce]

In keeping with the immediate subject at hand... chill dude. I was being facetious.

Chill dude, I was just calling an idiot an idiot. Don't know why you're so mad about it.

 

[Glitch]

This is good news, for sure. Although it doesn't mean we're remotely at the point of a sustainable fusion reaction, but as the article notes, it is both an improvement AND one done in ever decreasing amounts of time, meaning [POSSIBLY] that we are within reach of the goal, finally.

How we contain 180 million degrees of energy though is another subject - and one I'm sure is on the scientist's minds as well.

I wouldn't put a great deal of stock into the article.

The core temperature of the Sun is actually 15 million degrees C (27 million degrees F), not "in excess of 100 million degrees Celsius (180 million Fahrenheit)." Furthermore, the atmospheric pressure in the core of the Sun is 261,296,501,423 times (3.84 trillion psi) the atmospheric pressure of Earth at sea level, not the "100 billion Earth atmospheres" that the article states.

So the article is way over with regard to temperature, and way under with regard to pressure.

 

[Ug make hammer]

I wouldn't put a great deal of stock into the article.

The core temperature of the Sun is actually 15 million degrees C (27 million degrees F), not "in excess of 100 million degrees Celsius (180 million Fahrenheit)." Furthermore, the atmospheric pressure in the core of the Sun is 261,296,501,423 times (3.84 trillion psi) the atmospheric pressure of Earth at sea level, not the "100 billion Earth atmospheres" that the article states.

So the article is way over with regard to temperature, and way under with regard to pressure.

The first figure is badly wrong, but the second one is right within an order of magnitude, which is close enough for such big numbers. Still, you're right. Or maybe she's describing the conditions in the pellet not the conditions in the core of the sun.

This is the National Ignition Facility and because it's second best (pardon me, but it's true) the coverage is never as good as for the ITER project. Leading to another point: hasn't ITER already passed that milestone of more fusion energy out than went in?

 

[Glitch]

The first figure is badly wrong, but the second one is right within an order of magnitude, which is close enough for such big numbers. Still, you're right.

This is the National Ignition Facility and because it's second best (pardon me, but it's true) the coverage is never as good as for the ITER project. Leading to another point: hasn't ITER already passed that milestone of more fusion energy out than went in?

Yes, but like in this experiment it only lasted about one billionth of a second. Still, it is an achievement and it does indicate progress. I probably won't live to see it since I'm 67, but I would not be surprised if we successfully develop sustainable deuterium fusion within the next ~50 years. That would be a huge game-changer and completely change the entire world.

 

[EdwinWillers]

I wouldn't put a great deal of stock into the article.

The core temperature of the Sun is actually 15 million degrees C (27 million degrees F), not "in excess of 100 million degrees Celsius (180 million Fahrenheit)." Furthermore, the atmospheric pressure in the core of the Sun is 261,296,501,423 times (3.84 trillion psi) the atmospheric pressure of Earth at sea level, not the "100 billion Earth atmospheres" that the article states.

So the article is way over with regard to temperature, and way under with regard to pressure.

Perhaps - not my stength - but I see no reason not to believe the gist of the article.

 

[iguanaman]

This just recently came out and it's pretty cool. I really hope it is true and that it develops even more. If we could ever figure out how to create truly unlimited power then I think a lot of our problems, on a global scale, would be reduced.

However, I'm also a cynic so I feel like either something was missed and it's not actually doing what is claimed somehow or it won't turn into lemon that's worth the squeeze. But...who knows? Here's to hoping.

Finally, a Fusion Reaction Has Generated More Energy Than Absorbed by The Fuel

A major milestone has been breached in the quest for fusion energy.

www.sciencealert.com

A major milestone has been breached in the quest for fusion energy.

For the first time, a fusion reaction has achieved a record 1.3 megajoule energy output – and for the first time, exceeding energy absorbed by the fuel used to trigger it.

Although there's still some way to go, the result represents a significant improvement on previous yields: eight times greater than experiments conducted just a few months prior, and 25 times greater than experiments conducted in 2018. It's a huge achievement.

Physicists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will be submitting a paper for peer review.

"This result is a historic step forward for inertial confinement fusion research, opening a fundamentally new regime for exploration and the advancement of our critical national security missions. It is also a testament to the innovation, ingenuity, commitment and grit of this team and the many researchers in this field over the decades who have steadfastly pursued this goal," said Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

We will know in a few years if fusion can ever become a major source of energy. The ITER will begin testing in 2025. It is the first and only attempt to see if scaling up can improve efficiency. It is the power of the Sun so we know the energy is there. The question is can us puny humans harness it? The largest problem is that fusion can only take place at temperatures that would melt any element so the fusion material cannot ever touch anything and powerful magnets are used to hold it in place.

Weighing 23 000 tonnes and standing at nearly 30 metres tall, ITER will be an impressive sight to behold. This nuclear fusion reactor will sit at the heart of a 180-hectare site, together with auxiliary housing and equipment. The immense scale of ITER, Latin for “the way”, will considerably outsize the largest experimental fusion reactors currently in operation — the Joint European Torus (JET) in the United Kingdom and the joint European–Japanese JT-60SA in Japan.
But what is ITER’s potential, and, in an era of miniaturization and optimization, why is it necessary to build a research device on such a gigantic scale?
One of ITER’s primary goals is to prove that fusion reactions can produce significantly more energy than the energy supplied to initiate the reaction process — resulting in an overall gain in power. Reactors like ITER are called tokamaks, and use a combination of heating systems, strong magnets, and other devices to create energy-releasing fusion reactions in super-hot plasmas. The resulting magnetic fields bind and spin the charged particles around the doughnut-shaped reactor vessel so that these can fuse and produce fusion energy.
As for the question of size, larger tokamaks provide better insulation and confine the fusion particles for longer, thus producing more energy than smaller devices.
A significant indicator of a reactor’s performance is its fusion power gain, or the ratio between the fusion power produced and the power injected into the plasma to drive the reaction. It is expressed by the symbol ‘Q’.
To date, JET has achieved the best gain, with a Q value of 0.67, by producing 16 megawatts (MW) of fusion power from 24 MW of heating power. Much higher Q values will be needed for electricity production, however.
https://www.iaea.org/fusion-energy/iter-the-worlds-largest-fusion-experiment

 

[EnigmaO01]

Hmmm.....bury that shit deep or set it up in space and figure out how to beam the energy down, lol.

I thought using magnets to enclose it was the answer?

 

[Deuce]

I thought using magnets to enclose it was the answer?

Magnets are part of the fusion process itself, they confine the plasma into a small enough area for fusion to occur properly and keep the intensely hot plasma away from the housing. It's also part of what makes fusion power so safe. If this built-in containment fails even for a microsecond, the fusion reaction stops. It's impossible to "melt down" like a fission plant and it's impossible to have the reactor explode. Any damage that occurs will be limited to the reactor itself.

 

[Mithros]

This just recently came out and it's pretty cool. I really hope it is true and that it develops even more. If we could ever figure out how to create truly unlimited power then I think a lot of our problems, on a global scale, would be reduced.

However, I'm also a cynic so I feel like either something was missed and it's not actually doing what is claimed somehow or it won't turn into lemon that's worth the squeeze. But...who knows? Here's to hoping.

Finally, a Fusion Reaction Has Generated More Energy Than Absorbed by The Fuel

A major milestone has been breached in the quest for fusion energy.

www.sciencealert.com

A major milestone has been breached in the quest for fusion energy.

For the first time, a fusion reaction has achieved a record 1.3 megajoule energy output – and for the first time, exceeding energy absorbed by the fuel used to trigger it.

Although there's still some way to go, the result represents a significant improvement on previous yields: eight times greater than experiments conducted just a few months prior, and 25 times greater than experiments conducted in 2018. It's a huge achievement.

Physicists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will be submitting a paper for peer review.

"This result is a historic step forward for inertial confinement fusion research, opening a fundamentally new regime for exploration and the advancement of our critical national security missions. It is also a testament to the innovation, ingenuity, commitment and grit of this team and the many researchers in this field over the decades who have steadfastly pursued this goal," said Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

I think you have the right take. It’s both exciting and sobering. Taking them at their word, the fusion reaction was exothermic. That’s remarkable. But the fusion reaction came up just short of the power produced by the lasers.

There is a long way to go. They have to capture that energy and convert it to electricity. And they have to power the lasers to produce the reaction. The best fission plants operate at 39%. I couldn’t find the electrical to optical efficiency for those lasers, but it should be something like 10%. The energy produced also has to account for the production of all systems, raw materials, personnel, etc

I’d recon that’s something like 30-100x more output required.