[DaveMart]

A 5 MW reactor takes about 5 kg of fuel per year. For an experiment, we purchased decaborane for $5 per gram or $5,000/kg. At that price fuel costs would be $25,000/yr or 0.05 cents/kWh. Electricity now costs about 5 cents/kWh.

Actually, these prices are based on the fact that decaborane is sold in very small quantities. It would be much cheaper with mass production. In the 1950

[DaveMart]

I don’t think it is as bad as that!
According to the guys at the Plasma toroid research project, the use of boron in a nuclear reactor at current prices leads to a fuel cost of around 1/20th of fossil fuel:
‘The low cost of operating a PB11 spheromak as an electric generator (currently estimated as a 20:1 saving) is based on fossil-fuel prices as of this year. If oil prices continue to rise as predicted, the savings differential may become even greater. This would more rapidly make up for the rather steep capital outlay involved to install a home heating system priced at USD $12,000. (Ref. 14) However, using a relatively rare element as part of a fuel-input system could cause the price of boron to rise, and calculations of cost saving which are based on its current low price may have to be revised somewhat in the future.’
http://pesn.com/2006/03/08/9600242_Spheromak_Plasma_Toroid/
Unfortunately though they do not source this comment.
Here are a couple I dug up:
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/boron/boronmcs05.pdf
http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/boron/boron_table%204.html
http://www.imf2005.itu.edu.tr/field.php
http://www.consrv.ca.gov/cgs/minerals/min_prod/non_fuel_2002.pdf
It looks like a price per ton of a few hudred dollars.
Commonly mined ores seem to be in fairly limited supply, mainly in Turkey, but with substantial resources in California and Russia.
What I don’t know though is the prevalence of lower grade ores not presently mined, which it might be necessary to exploit if boron was utilised for a lot of energy generation, how the likely rates of depletion under those circumstances would square up to current resources and so on.
Nor am I qualified to try to put some numbers on those questions.
Some approximate figures frot hsi might be needed though, to convice potential investors that boron resources are likely to last beyond next Tuesday! 😉
My own wild guess would be that at a price of 10 times current, available exploitable resources might be 100 times greater than current, leading to a fuel cost about half that of current fossil fuel resources, and allowing focus fusion to still capilalise on no generating equipment being needed and so on.
Hopefully this might give a resource base which would be OK for a few hundred years at, say, American rates of power consumption for a world of 10billion.
As boron is a rare element some numbers would be handy though, rather than just surmising.
Regards,
DaveMart

[DaveMart]

Sigma wrote: It sounds good. I have been thinking of either a specific Fusion X-Prize or a more generalized Energy X-Prize with varying tiers. Of course the Fusion X-Prize would be a good start, perhaps later an Energy X-Prize, which would cover the gamut of energy issues, could be created.

Well, I believe Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft, put up the money for the X-prize, so perhaps he could be interested.
Regards,
DaveMart

[DaveMart]

Admin wrote: Well it looks like this one is another great fit. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5368602.stm

Sir Richard Branson’s announcement that he is to donate the next 10 years’ profits from his Virgin travel businesses to the fight against global warming is the latest – and most significant – act of philanthropy from one of the world’s best known businessmen.

Virgin Fuels…How do we tap that?

Well, doesn’t look like Virgin Fuels is set up yet, but “Virgin Unite,” their charity arm, is. I shall email them and report back.

For aircraft travel a practicable Focus fusion power supply would greatly reduce the fuel weight, and also eliminate the substantial fire risk and most of the terrorism threat, together with eliminating most of the issues of exhaust pollution from the aircraft affecting climate, and so is hugely relevant to the Air industry’s needs.
A possible way of pitching it would be that alternatives have not all been properly explored, and that Focus fusion is one of a number of alternatives which could be looked at for relatively modest costs.
My guess is that Richard Branson, who is accustomed to risky ventures, might be attracted to financing a variety of possible solutions, each individually high risk, to try to ensure that one or the other won.
That does not hinder pointing out the unique attractions of FF, of course!
Regards,
DaveMart

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