Scientists at MIT last week announced they are close to designing a nuclear fusion system that could be capable of creating clean energy by the end of the decade, providing hope of reaching “Zero 50” thanks to investments from the private sector.
For decades, scientists have been trying to harness the energy that powers stars, a complex, atomic-level process known as nuclear fusion, which requires heating a plasma fuel to more than 100 million degrees Celsius and finding a way to contain and sustain it. In theory, fusion could yield inexpensive and unlimited zero-emissions electricity, without producing any significant radioactive waste, as fission does in traditional nuclear power plants. www.bostonglobe.com/...
Nuclear fusion is defined as a reaction that occurs when two or more atomic nuclei are joined to create a new atomic nucleus along with other subatomic particles. According to the Department of Energy:
Nuclear Fusion reactions power the Sun and other stars. In a fusion reaction, two light nuclei merge to form a single heavier nucleus. The process releases energy because the total mass of the resulting single nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei. The leftover mass becomes energy. Einstein’s equation (E=mc2), which says in part that mass and energy can be converted into each other, explains why this process occurs. If scientists develop a way to harness energy from fusion in machines on Earth, it could be an important method of energy production.
A Cambridge institution Commonwealth Fusion Systems has begun construction of a $1.8 billion nuclear reactor on 47 acres in Devens, MA, with funds coming from such private investors as Google and Bill Gates.
“It may sound like science fiction, but the science of fusion is real, and the recent scientific advancements are game-changing,” said Dennis Whyte, director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center and cofounder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems. “These advancements aren’t incremental; they are quantum leap improvements. . . . We’re in a new era of actually delivering real energy systems.”
Whyte’s MIT team, along with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, last fall demonstrated a decrease in the amount of space and money needed to create “the most powerful magnetic field of its kind on Earth, a critical component of the prototype reactor they’re building in Devens.”
“We have come a long way,” said Bob Mumgaard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, who compared their advance to similar breakthroughs that made flight possible. “We’re a pretty conservative science bunch, but we’re pretty confident.”
Not so fast, reports Slate Magazine, casting a critical eye on “the startups” [which] all promise limitless clean energy: power from nuclear fusion and a rapid transformation of our energy supply away from fossil fuels.”
... if you listen to the rhetoric coming out of some of those fusion startups, you’re led to believe that it will be much cheaper to build, maintain, run, and decommission super-high-tech fusion plants than an equivalent coal plant. That is, it’s easier to set up a nuclear magnetic bottle and mimic the inner workings of the sun than it is to throw a rock into a raging fire. That, my friends, is bat-guano insane. As the Theranos trial is making clear, it’s not so easy to tell the difference between puffery and outright fraud. In my opinion, anyone telling investors that they’re going to produce energy at a third of the price of coal should brush up on the George Costanza defense: “It’s not a lie if you believe it.”
Writing for The Week, reporter James Pethokoukis asks Is nuclear fusion finally for real? Some very rich people seem to think so. Honing in on MIT/Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), he notes that the project has attracted more than double the investment of other companies experimenting with nuclear fusion.
Replacing dirty fossil fuels with clean power doesn't fully capture the potential of nuclear fusion. Clean, cheap, abundant energy could, for instance, help produce hydrogen for fuel, power giant machines to pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and desalinate water on a large scale. No longer would concerns about energy and climate change limit our aspirations, even if they just involve energy-intensive Bitcoin mining.
EE Times notes in Breakthrough in Efficient Powering of Fusion Energy significant investment in late 2021 because of an understanding of the significance of fusion in the transformation to clean energy.
“The race to commercialize fusion will gather further pace next year as fusion companies make further technology advances,” Kelsall concluded. “Applications developed within the fusion sector will present substantial crossover opportunities in different industries, including aerospace, industry, and health care. 2022 will see the public and private sectors continue to work closely, to capitalize on the immense opportunities that fusion offers. This augurs well for the future.”
The failure to pass the BBB legislation is disastrous for the US goals to expeditiously and aggressively address climate change, so it’s heartening to read that cities are taking matters into their own hands. In Iowa, Ames City announced plans to achieve net zero by 2050, cutting GHGs by 83% by 2030.
London and Dhaka may be separated by thousands of miles and multiple time zones, but we are united by strong and historic bonds that transcend geography and bring us closer together in today’s globalised world.
London, for example, is home to a Bangladeshi-origin community of more than 200,000, based mainly in the East End and around the cultural hub of Brick Lane, which makes a significant and positive contribution to the city’s economy. London and Dhaka’s relationship is not only based on business; it is also rooted in human connections between family and friends in the diaspora. This means we share a much deeper affinity, not to mention a mutual love of spicy food and cricket.