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Page added on March 11, 2012
Physicist sees fusion powering the world
Solar energy will become competitive in 10 years and the world is set to enter the solar/hydrogen fusion era in 20 years, renowned theoretical physicist Dr Michio Kaku has told Gulf Times.
“The falling cost of solar, hydrogen, renewable, wind power, geothermal power and the rising cost of fossil fuels will cross within 10 years, causing market forces to kick in and push solar and then in 20 years, fusion power becomes a possibility,” he predicted.
In Qatar for the first time, Dr Kaku, speaking on the sidelines of the Qitcom 2012 Conference & Exhibition last week, pointed out that the world’s biggest fusion reactor is being built at Cadarache in the south of France.
“Using ordinary seawater as the basic energy source, the international nuclear fusion research and engineering project called the ITER, is scheduled to be operational in 2019, followed by commercialisation 20 years thereafter,” he explained.
Unlike with nuclear energy, which produces enormous quantities of nuclear waste radioactive for thousands to tens of millions of years, the waste products of fusion, including helium gas, are valuable and do not create meltdowns, contamination or horrible accidents.
Dr Kaku has predicted, in his latest book Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by 2100, that “anyone who can successfully master fusion power will have unleashed unlimited eternal energy.”
Fusion power relies on fusing hydrogen atoms with great heat, thereby releasing vastly more energy with very little waste.
The best-selling author explains in the book that “unlike fission power, fusion power unleashes the nuclear energy of the sun. Buried deep inside the hydrogen atom is the energy source of the universe. Fusion power lights up the sun and the heavens. It is the secret of the stars.
“Pound for pound, fusion releases 10mn times more energy than gasoline. An 8-ounce glass of water is equal to the energy content of 500,000 barrels of petroleum.
“Fusion (not fission) is nature’s preferred way to energise the universe. In star formation, a hydrogen-rich ball of gas is gradually compressed by gravity, until it starts to heat up to enormous temperatures.
“When gas reaches around 50mn degrees or so (which varies depending on the specific conditions), the hydrogen nuclei inside the gas are slammed into one another, until they fuse to form helium. In the process, vast amounts of energy are released, which causes the gas to ignite.”
Asked about the status of global warming, Dr Kaku said “it is a problem only for the next 10 or 20 years, after that we are going to enter an era where we have minimal production of greenhouse gases.”
Most of the damage, according to him, will be in the next two decades. This means that sea levels are going to rise, the weather is going to be affected, summer is going to be longer, there will be more violent storms, droughts in one area and flooding right next door, like in the US, there is forest fires in Texas and flooding in the Mississippi right next door.
“The global warming is never totally reversible, you can only minimise the damage,” he maintained.
If an intensive campaign to plant trees is going to make any difference, Dr Kaku stressed “You have to plant a lot of trees, before you make a dent on global warming, it is a huge, huge problem.”
Dr Kaku, who is attempting to complete Einstein’s unified field theory, is of the view that the world will never run out of oil.
“We will always have some oil, but the cost will start to go up, probably within 10 years. Probably we have taken out almost 50% of all the oil in the earth. There is still debate as to how close we are to hitting the 50% point.
“Most analysts say we are either at the 50% point or within ten years of the 50% point, that is called Hubbert’s Peak, after that it is all downhill, meaning that prices will soar. Even if you find deposits elsewhere prices will still begin to rise as scarcity sets in,” he added.
9 Comments on "Physicist sees fusion powering the world"
BillT on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 12:06 am
Fusion..is fiction as far as we are concerned here on earth. Dreamers actually believe that the economic system is going to exist to make multibillion dollar, multiyear projects possible in large numbers in the future. “…the international nuclear fusion research and engineering project called the ITER, is scheduled to be operational in 2019, followed by commercialization 20 years thereafter…” The Euro is toast, and the dollar is Charmin. Neither will be around in 30 years to fund such adventures, if they are even possible.
For a claim, like stated above, that fusion will power the world when it is still in the theoretical stage and may be decades away from ever being proven possible, he puts a lot on the line. Perhaps physicists don’t think about economics or understand it?
All of his comments makes me wonder if he bought his degree from some on-line college or found it in a box of cereal. The real world he lives in runs on money, not theoretical physics. But then, maybe he doesn’t live in our world…
Rick on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 12:47 am
I agree with Bill. I also have to say, as the world runs out of resources, which it is right NOW, you’ll see more BS spin articles like these. At least until the masses wake up, if they ever do.
Plus he states, the author – “The global warming is never totally reversible” — what BS. This guy is so full of shit.
Wheeldog on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 1:21 am
“the world is set to enter the solar/hydrogen fusion era in 20 years,”
Even IF the prediction is accurate it will almost certainly be too late to avoid severe disruptions of the global economy and chain reactions of political upheavals. Shifting from existing conventional carbon based energy (oil, coal, gas) to fusion power will require a massive retooling of industry and disposal of existing conventional energy technology. Time is not on our side. The industrialized world is already showing signs of severe stress. Pie in the sky is not going to save the day.
SilentRunning on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 5:11 am
I am a fan of Michio Kaku, and wish that he is right.
Unfortunately, I think in this case he is wrong, because the progress in fusion has been very slow, and the decline in our global capacity for huge mega-projects will be shrinking rapidly. From resource shortages to financial instabilities, we will be lucky to keep people fed, to say nothing of building multi-billion dollar research experiments that must have EROEI of far less than .01, to say nothing of unity.
DC on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 6:06 am
Scientists are supposed to be rational thinkers. Im not seeing much of that on display here. You would think a physicist, even a theoretical one, would be able to grasp the concept that hyrdogen is not an energy source, rather a carrier, and very expensive, complex and one that takes more energy to produce that it ever gives back? Likewise fusion, it proponents seldom mention the cost of even a single fusion reactor(if we can figure out how to make it work before our decline becomes irreversible that is). 10x at least the cost of fission. Easily 50-100 billion dollars. And thats not even factoring in inflation of the next 3 or 4 decades while the kinks are being worked out.
Only thing he got right was wind and solars costs are falling, but of course, when you have a world like ours that desigend to waste toxic fossil-fuels in the most mind-boggling ways imaginaable, they may not be as helpful as we hope they are. Fission sure isnt getting cheaper, @ 10xs the cost, how is fusion going to ‘save’ us so we can keep on wrecking our world?
BillT on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 9:56 am
We could have gone to Mars also, but we didn’t. And for the same reason, Fusion will never happen. Too expensive, and it requires open minds, not greed. The Western world runs on pure greed today. Nothing that will not be profitable in the near (6 months to 1 year)future will ever get off the ground.
Arthur on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 1:54 pm
In 1970 in high school I was taught that fusion energy was 50 years away. That’s 42 years ago. If the ITER people will remain on schedule they will make good on that promise. However, first see, then believe. This Dr. Kaku himself says that fusion energy is a “possibility”.
diemos on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 3:41 pm
“Scientists are supposed to be rational thinkers. Im not seeing much of that on display here.”
It is hard to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it. — Upton Sinclair
Bob Owens on Mon, 12th Mar 2012 5:13 pm
It’s a beautiful dream but why bother? For the cost of this Fusion research we could outfit every home and business with solar water heaters and produce more energy for free, forever, than fusion will ever provide. I installed a batch solar water heater in 1999 for $1,000 and have been enjoying free hot water from a machine with no moving parts now for over a decade! Take that, Fusion!