Great video on the Tokamak
This video explains the tokamak and ITER very well. Thanks to Derek for pointing it out.
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!
Full Story »
Posts in this category
Tour the Future of Fusion in Google Earth
Fusion is already spanning the globe with a diversity of research. In this Google Earth tour, blast off from New York to Paris and onward to the south of France, where Cadarache Forest gives way to the vast scope of Iter, the international megaproject that may lead to fusion power into the grid by 2040.
...Then swing back past Lady Liberty to where a more modest effort is cranking the heat up to a billion degrees. Here not far from Edison’s labs, the FoFu-1 dense plasma focus and its armament of instrumentation could determine in the next year the scientific feasibility of net energy from a very different and even cleaner fusion approach. Learn more with a final landing at the Googleplex itself, where the now-in-progress experiment was outlined in a Tech Talk by fusion scientist Eric Lerner.
Two Paths to Fusion
Note that this page has been updated. Please visit the current version for the latest information and to comment.
Size Matters: Tokamak, Polywell and DPF
A short animation by Torulf Greek illustrates the scale of various fusion reactors.
The Stagecoach and the Spaceship
Not all fusion is created equal, but few are aware of this. Here we compare conventional fusion (“the stagecoach”) with aneutronic fusion (“the spaceship”).
Fusion Confidence Monitor
Inspired by the HSBC Climate Confidence Monitor (“CCM”), we propose a Fusion Confidence Monitor.
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 proactive implications for Fusion research strategy.
Contenders…
...for “energy of the future”
The goal of the “Contender” section is to enable us to compare different energy candidates. We are most interested in the contenders for a “fusion prize.” However, we will compare a range of energy approaches for a broad perspective on humanity’s energy options.
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.
