How long will it take to implement nuclear fusion? (Colby Newman)

This week I'm going to talk about how close we are to using fusion energy as our main energy. I'm going to try something a little different this week. Below is a video that I found that perfectly expresses what I want to cover. I will post the links of the sources from the video. I will also put in the name of the channel as they and their sources deserve the credit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW_YCWLyv6A


This link will take you to a video that I found which explains things better than I could. There are a couple of key points that I will point out from the video. (you'll have to copy this and paste this link to get to YouTube).

I would highly recommend watching this. It's really interesting and as I said, this video does a better job of explaining. 

1.) You'll notice that at the beginning of the video, they talk about what fusion is and that it is indeed real. They go on to say that fusion happens every day without our knowledge. It's true. The sun as well as every other star in the universe goes through fusion constantly. It's how we get heat and energy from the sun. 

Another thing you might notice is that this video has chapters, parts of the video that talk about certain things.

In the "Most Viable" chapter, they say that when it comes to fusion powerplants. they can "plugged in" to our existing power lines. That right there answers the question of how we would convert fusion energy to electricity.

2.) Another brilliant point the video brings up is the fact that we cant quite use fusion energy. According to the video and its sources the reason for this is something in the fusion world known as "Q." Q basically means energy gain. In other words, the power plants have to be able to make more electricity than it consumes. 

3.) This video also talks about ITER (International Nuclear Fusion Research). Which you ma have heard from my second blog. I didn't go too in depth about exactly what ITER is. According to the video ITER is the largest fusion experiment on the planet, and has been in the works for decades. ITER is able to produce ten times more energy than it consumes.

4.) The last thing I want to talk about is something known as the "DEMO." Again according to the video, DEMO a demonstration power plant. When ITER turns on in 2025 and proves to be successful, then the "DEMO" will be built to put fusion electricity on the grid between 2030, and 2050. In other words, we're still a long ways a way from having fusion energy.


https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a27961/mit-nuclear-fusion-experiment-increases-efficiency/ 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/science/fusion-power-plant-iter-france.html 

https://www.livescience.com/23394-fusion.html 


These are the links for the sources that were in the description of the video

https://www.youtube.com/c/Seeker/featured  

This is the YouTube channel. Please check them out. They have far more than just fusion. 




Comments

  1. Connor SullivanOctober 6, 2021 at 1:26 PM

    Hey Colby I really liked your post about the topic of fusion, I'm pretty new to the subject but I thought that the video you also shared and your blog really helped me understand.

    ReplyDelete

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