Scientists working on clean energy by recreating the sun in a San Diego lab
Machine can create heat that’s 10 times hotter than the core of the sun Scientists at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in Sorrento Valley, San Diego, are working on recreating the sun in a machine that can create heat ten times hotter than the sun. The facility's director, Dr. Richard Buttery, stated that the process doesn't use fossil fuels and doesn't make carbon emissions, and generates large amounts of base load electricity. However, they are not actually producing electricity there, but studying techniques and technologies to make energy and remove the power from the reaction chamber safely. The hope is that through trial and error, we will eventually create magnetic fusion facilities around the country to power cities. Despite this progress, scientists believe that the research isn't cheap and that the potential for this clean energy revolution could be achieved within 10 years.
gepubliceerd : 10 maanden geleden door Steve Price in Environment
Machine can create heat that’s 10 times hotter than the core of the sun
“So we're trying to make the sun on earth for the purpose of clean energy,” said Dr. Kathreen Thome, a scientist at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in Sorrento Valley.
Located inside a nondescript building, sits the largest magnetic fusion machine in the entire country, where their chamber can get ten times hotter than the sun.
They open it up to universities and labs to advance research with the goal of one day using nuclear fusion to power the planet. “It doesn't use fossil fuels,” said Dr. Richard Buttery, the facility’s director. “It doesn't make carbon emissions, and it makes large amounts of base load electricity and so that is good for the nation's energy security and it's good for the planet.”
They're not actually making electricity there, but through experiments in the reaction chamber, they're figuring out all the techniques and technologies to make energy and take the power out safely. And the process doesn't use radioactive chemicals.
“Fusion is inherently safe,” Thome said. “If things stop working, we just stop getting power - which is a huge bummer and we don't what that to happen, but we don't have to worry about any radioactive risks coming from it.”
This facility is operated by General Atomics on behalf of the Department of Energy. The hope is that through trial and error there, we'll eventually be able to create magnetic fusion facilities that can be placed around the country to power cities. And even though this idea has been around for decades, it's still far from becoming a reality because the research isn't cheap.
“If you gave us 20 billion dollars, I think we would see it in 10 years,” Thome said. “But we need the money to have it happen.”
But those who work there, especially the younger employees, say this is still a very exciting time because we're closer than ever to having it become a reality - powering the planet on clean energy all from research happening right here in our own backyard.
Onderwerpen: ESG