Fusion Confidence Monitor
Inspired by the HSBC Climate Confidence Monitor (“CCM”), we propose a Fusion Confidence Monitor.
Fusion Race
For mankind, fusion energy has proven difficult to achieve. Much more difficult than fission. And yet, we have no sense of urgency. Humanity has yet to launch an all out race for fusion. Fusion funding is marked by miserly caution. A consortium of fusion scientists have worked towards a consensus of the most probable avenue to making two main types of fusion work - at the expense of all other approaches out there. Meanwhile, many of the other approaches are delusional, or even fraudulent. It's time to take a look at the playing field and define the race for fusion. Sort through the contenders, see if we can establish a fusion prize, and talk about the uncertainties inherent in the pursuit of this knowledge. Let's have fun while we pursue fusion - turn it into a sporting event, complete with gambling - betting on fusion, cheering along our favorite teams!
Read me first for an overview »
Entries in this department, ordered by date:
- Fusion Confidence Monitor
- ICC recap and Bill Gates TED talk review
- Contenders…
- Energy Secretary Steve Chu and Focus Fusion
- Fusion Now
- Fusion Alternatives
- Finding inspiration in the X PRIZE® Award
- Public pursuit of fusion
- Conventional Fusion vs. Focus Fusion
- Barriers to Fusion
- Fusion is not Fission
- Z-Pinch
- Russian Group Achieves pB11 Fusion With Very Small Yield
ICC recap and Bill Gates TED talk review
On February 16-19, PPPL hosted the ICC Workshop (Innovative Confinement Concepts). This coincided with Bill Gates’ TED talk, in which he proposed nuclear fission innovations as a solution to the world energy+CO2 crisis. These two events can be juxtaposed with interesting implications for Fusion research strategy.
Energy Secretary Steve Chu and Focus Fusion
Energy Secretary Steven Chu gave a talk at Google, Oct. 26, 2009. During the question and answer period, someone asks him about Focus Fusion.
Fusion Alternatives
We here at the Focus Fusion Society think our approach is the best for realizing the promise of fusion. However, we also think that all promising alternative routes to fusion should be adequately funded, that the fusion field as a whole needs more money. What are the other approaches?
Finding inspiration in the X PRIZE® Award
Why does the “X” PRIZE Foundation inspire us so?
- They have demonstrated that prizes stimulate innovation;
- Innovation has an element of chance, which can be leveraged;
- We feel that the fusion industry would take off if there were a similar prize for fusion. We seek to actively lobby for such a prize, from the “X” PRIZE Foundation and any other foundation willing to put forth a similar prize.
Note: “X PRIZE” is a trademark of the “X” PRIZE Foundation, Inc. The “X” PRIZE Foundation, Inc. does not currently offer a fusion prize.
Public pursuit of fusion
Why are we taking such a public approach to the pursuit of fusion? Several reasons.
Conventional Fusion vs. Focus Fusion
Energy production has three main elements: fuel, reactor and generator (why these three?). Conventional fusion and focus fusion differ significantly in their approach to these three elements:
- Fuel: Focus Fusion uses a different fuel, hydrogen and boron, rather than the conventional Deuterium and Tritium.
- Reactor: It uses a much smaller, inexpensive, more elegant reactor, the Dense Plasma Focus. In contrast, conventional approaches to fusion revolve around the tokamak, a large, unwieldy and very expensive device that has consumed billions of dollars in research money and is still very far from achieving net energy.
- Generator:The Focus Fusion approach seeks to generate electricity directly. The tokamak is designed to generate heat which then has to be converted to electricity using expensive turbines and generators.
Barriers to Fusion
They say we might have fusion in 50 years. What’s the hold up? What are the barriers to developing fusion? There are many, but the most difficult ones are not so much technological as they are psychological. These barriers exist in the fusion research establishment as well as in the general public.
Fusion is not Fission
Fission and Fusion are both Nuclear Energy. When people discuss nuclear power, they are usually referring to nuclear fission. This is because we have many nuclear power plants that use fission, but no one has been able to build a working fusion plant yet. The biggest practical difference between the two is that fusion reactions don’t have the problem of “chain reactions” and “melt-downs”.
Please bear with us.