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Science/nature/environment

Fusion energy

(3 Posts)
wingnut Sun 24-Nov-13 15:47:39

That's amazing, thank you for sharing that link. I have high hopes for fusion power. There is still the problem that a lot of the energy we require needs to be mobile (for transport), but there are recent discoveries on graphene used as a super capacitor which may hold some promise there (because batteries suck). Meanwhile, we have Coal To Liquid (CTL) processes, which give us some breathing space, at least.

I think we will be online with Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors before the problems with fusion are anywhere near solved. That, along with fracking, will fill in a lot of the energy gap that we will otherwise face during this century, until we are able to develop truly sustainable energy sources that don't devastate the environment (like wind farms) or cost more than we can afford. Thorium reactors were investigated many years ago, but there was no significant investment until recently because it did not give end products that could be used to develop nuclear weapons. But then, we already have more than enough of those, so we can concentrate just on the energy issue, at last.

Sue162 Fri 22-Nov-13 18:11:36

Just spotted this - CCFE is very close to where I live and we have had a tour around it. Fascinating and how marvellous it would be if we could have fusion energy!

thatbags Fri 25-Oct-13 16:38:00

www.ccfe.ac.uk/news_detail.aspx?id=242