A recent energy discovery by American scientists has raised the world’s hopes for clean energy, as it will provide what is known as “net energy gains,” the technology scientists have access to, to provide a plentiful alternative eCarbon-free energy production.
This comes after scientists at US government laboratories made a breakthrough in the search for unlimited, carbon-free energy by obtaining net energy gains in a nuclear fusion reaction for the first time, the Financial Times reported. citing sources, and viewed from Al Arabiya.net”.
Physicists have been trying since the 1950s to harness the fusion reaction that powers the sun, but no group has been able to produce more energy from the reaction than it consumes — a known “net energy gain,” which would help provide a reliable alternative. to fossil fuels and conventional nuclear energy.
Fusion energy
Today’s nuclear power plants work through fission, the splitting of heavy atoms to generate energy. During fission, a neutron hits a heavy uranium atom, splits it into lighter atoms, and thus produces a lot of heat and energy at the same time.
Fusion, on the other hand, works in reverse: It involves two atoms (usually hydrogen) fusing together to create a new element (mostly helium) in the same way stars generate energy.
In this process, the two hydrogen atoms lose a small amount of mass, which is converted into energy, and because the speed of light at which the process occurs is so great, even a small amount of mass lost can translate into a large amount mass. of energy.
FT sources said the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California had a net energy gain in fusion experimentation over the past two weeks. Although many scientists believe fusion power plants are still decades away, the technology’s potential is hard to ignore.
Advantages of fusion energy
Fusion reactions emit no carbon or long-lived radioactive waste, and a small cup of hydrogen fuel could theoretically power a house for hundreds of years.
The US breakthrough comes as the world grapples with rising energy prices and the need to quickly move away from burning fossil fuels to keep average global temperatures from rising to dangerous levels.
Through the Inflation Reduction Act, US President Joe Biden’s administration will allocate nearly $370 billion in new low-carbon energy subsidies in an effort to cut emissions and win a global race for the next generation of clean technology.
Sources familiar with the findings said the fusion reaction at the US government facility produced about 2.5 megajoules of energy, compared with an estimated energy consumption of 2.1 megajoules, while data is still being released. analyses.
Laser experiment
In turn, the US Department of Energy said Tuesday, “This historic and first-of-its-kind achievement will provide an unprecedented capability to support NNSA’s inventory management program and provide valuable insights into the prospects for clean fusion energy, which would be a game-changer for efforts to achieve the goal.” zero net carbon emissions.
In turn, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said: “We have had a theoretical understanding of fusion for more than a century, but the journey from knowledge to action can be long and arduous.”
However, FT sources have clarified that the exact return is still a long way off and it is not possible to confirm that it has crossed the threshold at this time. Sources indicated that the power output during the test was higher than expected, leading to damage to some diagnostic equipment, which complicates the analysis.
The $3.5 billion Lawrence Livermore facility was originally designed to test nuclear weapons by simulating explosions, but was later used for further fusion energy research.
At the launch of the new fusion energy strategy at the White House this year, Congressman Don Baer, chair of the bipartisan Fusion Energy Caucus, called the technology the “holy grail” of clean energy, adding: “A successful fusion experiment has the potential to lift many citizens out of poverty.” Mostly since the invention of fire.”
big handicap
Currently, researchers can only perform the fusion reaction once a day, to allow the device that produces the laser beam to cool down, replacing the fused atoms with fresh, unfused hydrogen atoms.
For the process to be commercially successful, scientists must be able to run the process multiple times per second.
The lasers compress hydrogen atoms to about 100 times the density of lead and heat them to about 100 million degrees Celsius, more than 6 times the temperature of the sun’s core.
What are the benefits of integration?
Nuclear fusion technology is safer than fission, because fusion cannot create runaway reactions or cause the risk of major disasters, nor does it produce radioactive byproducts that need to be stored safely, or harmful carbon emissions.
It’s unlikely you’ll run out of fuel since fusion fuel is just the heavy hydrogen atoms that can be found in seawater.
United States Secretary of Energy
parallel experiments
Most fusion research focuses on a different approach known as magnetic field fusion, in which hydrogen fuel is held in place by powerful magnets and heated to such extreme temperatures that the atomic nuclei of atoms fuse.
In the 12 months ending in June, the merging companies raised $2.83 billion in investment, bringing total private sector investment to date to nearly $4.9 billion, according to the Fusion Industry Association.
Nicholas Hooker, CEO of Oxford start-up First Light Fusion, which is developing an approach similar to the one used in NIF, described the potential attack as a “game changer”.
