Reply To: Fantastic news.

[Brian H]

blues wrote: Well, my suggestion of using H2O2 for portable power is just the result of a very general survey of the viability of various possible alternatives to carbon based fuels. It would be great if Focus Fusion energy could be used to convert CO2 into, say, methane or propane. It seems important to take account of the fact that batteries and fuel cells thus far developed tend to incorporate exotic elements that may become very scarce in the future.

I think it’s notable that a rocket fueled with, say, high test H2O2 and propane would be operable at “room temperature” (with no concerns about cryogenics), and be (relatively) nearly as efficient as as liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen vehicle. And so it’s fuel would not leak away in space during lengthy flights.

Also, if it becomes possible to somehow surround a fusion reaction with a sort of “waterfall,” that could conceivably eliminate much of the damage that energetic particles would cause to the interior walls of the reactor. Of course, this is all very speculative.

You may not have noted that there is no “energetic particle” problem with FF to speak of. A few low-speed neutrons are produced by side-reactions like B-He, but they are readily stopped by water and B10 in a low-tech shell. Since the plasmoids and pinches are so tiny, there is no “containment” problem to speak of.

Portable power is indeed critical, and even if batteries do experience the surge to 10X present energy density levels which has been projected for the next few years, liquids have some advantages in some cases.

As for exotic materials, I anticipate that wide-spread use of FF for desalinization will make available a smorgasbord of elements from seawater. Boron itself is already a significant “waste product” of some desal plants, e.g.

And according to http://gas2.org/2008/10/13/lithium-counterpoint-no-shortage-for-electric-cars/comment-page-2/ there is enough Li in 1% of 1% of the oceans to equip almost 2 BILLION TeslaMotors electric cars. And since it almost completely recycles, that should be enough. :cheese: (That’s after using up the lithium in the Nevada Kings Valley deposit, enough for the first 100,000,000 cars.)