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• Tuesday, March 21, 2006 09:45 PM

  Fusion, not gardens

  If these people are really that concerned about the depletion of the world's oil reserves, then they're going about things in the wrong way. I would agree that current alternative energy sources are never going to provide the energy we need to maintain a modern civilization, but building a bunker and growing a garden isn't the answer either. There is one energy source on the horizon that never gets mentioned in articles like these (which tend to focus on wind, solar, and biodiesel), yet it is the only source which has the potential to satiate our desire for energy.

  I'm talking, of course, about fusion. Most people don't even have any kind of clear conception of just how much energy fusion has the potential to provide. One kilogram of fusionable material would provide as much energy as 10,000,000 kg of fossil fuel. Many people were put off by the cold fusion debacle of the late 80s, and see fusion as nothing more than a pipe dream. The biggest problems facing fusion power are not technical (although there are myriad technical issue) but rather political.

  First, in America especially, the populace has an ingrained fear of all things nuclear. Proponents of fusion power must make it clear that fusion is of a fundamentally different character than its fission cousin. A fusion reactor would produce hardly any radioactive waste, and could never 'melt down' in the same way as a fission reactor.

  Second, a lack of funding. Developing fusion power will be extremely, extremely expensive, as will the plants themselves, and no government today has the political will to devote the kind of effort and money necessary for fusion to become a reality. The fact that large energy companies have a stranglehold on government in many countries does not bode well, either.

  There is some progress being made, the ITER experimental reactor is supposed to be constructed in Southern France, and, if successful will be the first truly viable fusion plant. What I predict we will see is a mad dash toward fusion power as the world's oil reserves dwindle. Never in the history of mankind has our species' energy usage decreased. Rest assured, the world's energy future lies in bold research and new technology, not a retreat toward an agrarian society.

  For more info on ITER: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4629239.stm

  —James
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