Seeker_UK
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
OK, so if not nuclear, then what?
Nuclear, just not the expensive, local reactor model.
OK, so if not nuclear, then what?
I've heard of scalable modular designs in the works too. Our very own Rolls Royce is planning to build these.Not only Thorium, but spent fuel could also be an option. This idea from a Silicon Valley startup looks interesting - micro reactors powering at a district level, using spent fuel. The biggest single obstacle looks likely to be security. Nuclear will always be a magnet for terrorists.
While that is brilliant news and shows how any problem can be overcome. The fast neutrinos produced by fusion are not easy to control ….
The answer is nuclear power as there is more than we need and it comes from the Sun. I have posted this before but its worth a read https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/...-energy-from-1-of-the-sahara/?sh=305b873ad440OK, so if not nuclear, then what?
Fascinating, thanks DV. How might the intermittency of such large solar projects be handled without resorting to huge battery banks (which currently have their own environmental issues and add significantly to the overall Carbon Intensity of solar power)?The answer is nuclear power as there is more than we need and it comes from the Sun. I have posted this before but its worth a read https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/...-energy-from-1-of-the-sahara/?sh=305b873ad440
And there are other hot desert areas in addition to the Sahara.
Where fusion would be useful is in a starship as the resources could be collected as you travel through space.
Cheers,
DV
Like all simple and obvious solutions, it might not be as simple as you make out.The answer is nuclear power as there is more than we need and it comes from the Sun. I have posted this before but its worth a read https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/...-energy-from-1-of-the-sahara/?sh=305b873ad440
And there are other hot desert areas in addition to the Sahara.
Where fusion would be useful is in a starship as the resources could be collected as you travel through space.
Cheers,
DV
Its already starting for the UK https://electrek.co/2021/09/27/the-...ill-send-clean-energy-from-morocco-to-the-uk/Fascinating, thanks DV. How might the intermittency of such large solar projects be handled without resorting to huge battery banks (which currently have their own environmental issues and add significantly to the overall Carbon Intensity of solar power)?
Fusion has always been [in my lifetime] twenty years in the future. It was twenty years in the future in the 1970s, and still is today!
It seems the whole premise may be misguided ...
I thought the thing about neutrinos was that they barely interacted with regular matter, so what is the problem?
You seem to have missed the point. That being that something like a 20-fold increase in conversion efficiency is required just to break-even. That would be one seriously, seriously large improvement due to scale alone.
That is an interesting video @George J & thanks for posting. If we're to go forward, then it is important that scientist, project leaders & financiers are honest about the numbers else it will be counter productive. Sabine Hossenfelder isn't being negative, she's merely pointing out that currently, we're being misled. Clearly, the research is worthwhile, though it will most likely be a long time before mankind gets any benefit from it; obviously it wouldn't be economically viable for a commercial reactor to consume more energy than it generates!
Fission is proven, here and relatively easy and cost-effective. The green movement need to embrace this with the same zeal as wind and solar.
I think Rana above has responded better than I could have. Improved new designs are addressing the issue you raise, in theory fission can be made very cost-effective.
I'd recommend you do a bit more reading on the subject.
As for power transmission... Wires!