Fusion breakthrough generates excess energy for first time
Paves the way for cheap, unlimited energy - in the distant future
US scientists have made a significant breakthrough in the decades-long quest for a source of unlimited renewable energy, using a fusion reaction to generate more energy than required for ignition for the first time ever.
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced on Tuesday that an experiment on 5th December 'produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it.'
Nuclear fusion remains a promising potential energy source. Fusion energy is far cleaner than fossil fuels or traditional nuclear power, which is generated by fission - the splitting of nuclei.
In nuclear fusion, the hydrogen atoms' atomic nuclei are driven together to produce heavier elements like helium, rather than being split apart. However, controlling nuclear fusion is a huge challenge.
Because atomic nuclei repel each other, smashing them together inside a reactor requires extremely high temperatures, often reaching hundreds of millions of degrees. At these temperatures matter transforms into plasma - a swirling, superheated soup of particles. Keeping a reactor's plasma together long enough to harvest energy is one of the main issues with modern fusion.
That leads to the challenge of net energy loss: all attempts at fusion so far have required more energy to start the reaction than could be harvested from the process.
Now a team at LLNL's National Ignition Facility (NIF) have produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy required to start it for the first time, a net energy gain...sort of. More on that below.
"They shot a bunch of lasers at a pellet of fuel and more energy was released from that fusion ignition than the energy of the lasers," explained White House science advisor Arati Prabhakar.
Replay the announcement below.
In the experiment, scientists used 192 powerful lasers to deliver 2.05 megajoules of energy to a tiny capsule smaller than a pea holding hydrogen isotopes.
The experiment generated 3.15 megajoules of fusion energy, according to LLNL scientists.
Despite the fact that there was a net energy gain from the trigger-versus-reaction, the lasers required 322 megajoules of energy from the electrical grid to work, meaning the experiment was still a significant net loss.
"Our calculations suggest that it's possible with a laser system at scale to achieve hundreds of megajoules of yield," said Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
"So there is a pathway to a target that produces enough yield, but we're very distant from that right now."
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm noted the breakthrough would open the door for advancement in both national defence (so beloved of politicians) and the future of renewable energy (which is merely required for us to live in the future).
"Ignition allows us to replicate for the first time certain conditions that are found only in the stars and the sun," Granholm told a news conference in Washington, D.C.
"This milestone moves us one significant step closer to the possibility of zero-carbon abundant fusion energy powering our society."
US President Joe Biden described the achievement a perfect demonstration of the need to invest more in research and development.
"Look what's going on from the Department of Energy on the nuclear front. There's a lot of good news on the horizon," he said at the White House.
NIF, which is the size of a sports stadium, uses strong laser beams to simulate pressures and temperatures seen in the cores of stars and giant planets.
There are several nuclear fusion projects being run globally, including the ITER project, which is under construction in France.
ITER will use a technique known as magnetic confinement, in place of lasers, to keep a whirling mass of fusing hydrogen plasma within a huge donut-shaped chamber.
You may also like
/podcasts/4333508/national-grid-analogue-digital-ctrl-alt-lead-podcast
Public Sector
National Grid is turning analogue to digital - Ctrl Alt Lead podcast
'We can't do what we've always done, just more efficiently'
/news/4331149/ai-blame-googles-rocketing-greenhouse-gas-emissions
Green
AI to blame for Google's rocketing greenhouse gas emissions
Casts doubt on search giant's 'Net Zero by 2030' goal
/opinion/4325580/essentials-airony
Artificial Intelligence
IT Essentials: The AIrony
AI is a necessary evil for the energy sector