Reply To: EmDrive + Focus Fusion = Space Access for all?

[Viking Coder]

The following figures are based on Lerner’s statement of a 5 MW plant requiring 5 kg of [decaborane] per year.

Decaborane (B10H14) has a molar mass of 122.221 g/mol.

1 kg decaborane / MW / year ~= 8 moles decaborane / MW / year

8 moles of decaborane = 80 moles of boron => 240 moles of helium

The US had a rated electric generator capacity of 1,075,677 MW in 2006.
Existing Capacity by Energy Source

In 2004, the US generated 4.7 trillion KWh of electricity, while the entire globe generated 16.7 trillion KWh.
International Electricity Generation

16.7 is ~3.5x 4.7, so let’s use 3.5 TW as the global electric generator capacity.

Gases are measured in terms of standard cubic feet (scf), where 1 scf ~= 1.2 gram moles.

3.5 million MW * 240 moles of helium/MW/year = 840 million moles helium/year = 700 million scf of helium / year

wikipedia: Helium

In 2005, approximately one hundred and sixty million cubic meters of helium were extracted from natural gas or withdrawn from helium reserves

160 million cubic meters = 5.65 billion cubic feet

700 million / 5.65 billion ~= 12%

Replacing all of the world's electric generators with FF would produce ~12% of current helium extraction.