Re-fusioning the Future

I spy with my little eye the future. I see the melting glaciers. I see the sea levels rising. I see intensifying weather. Extreme heat waves, flooding, decrease in biodiversity, and extinction of organisms. Depressing, right? It’s amazing how much we know about global warming and the long term effects, yet there is still not enough being done to change the future that we are solidifying each day. The struggle is understandable; sustainable tools, machines, materials, etc. are expensive, and sustainable energy sources like solar panels or windmills can take up a lot of land and space that people may not have; yet something must be done in order to ensure our survival, and the survival of our future generations. So, what if there’s another way to try to prevent our demise? A recent discovery may give everyone a little bit of hope about our situation.

Simple Terms of the Discovery

At 1:03 a.m. on December 5 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility, 192 lasers started a fusion reaction. This particular experiment was important , as this was the first time that scientists had been able to produce more energy than the energy that was put into the experiment. This method, laser fusion, is called ignition: the crossing line where energy generated by fusion equals the energy of the laser beams.

The Fusion Process

Before we dive deeper into the science jargon, let’s get into the nitty-gritty (basics).

Fusion is a nuclear reaction that occurs in stars, like our sun. It’s what powers and makes stars shine. This process continuously combines hydrogen atoms that turn into helium atoms. This results in the production of sunlight, heat, and the release of enormous amounts of energy.

On Earth, the process is different, because fusion requires temperatures that no solid material would be able to handle. In order to solve this problem, tokamaks are used. Tokamaks– doughnut-shaped reactors – are devices that help create electrical power from the reaction of nuclear fusion, which releases energy. These reactors are used for fusion in order to capture and contain high temperatures of 100,000,000 degrees or more.

Inside the reactors, hydrogen gas is heated to such high temperatures that electrons are stripped from the hydrogen nuclei. This is how plasma  – clouds of positively charged nuclei and negatively charged electrons – is created. In order to sustain the high temperatures, the plasma is suspended with magnetic fields  in the middle of a vacuum in the tokamak reactor, as this prevents it from touching any solids. The plasma is trapped within the doughnut-shaped reactor, and the nuclei fuses together, which releases energy in the form of neutrons flying outward. 

Ignition Facility Experiment

Laser beams entered the top and bottom of the cylinder, which vaporized it. This created an inward attack of X-rays, compressing a BB-size fuel pellet of deuterium and tritium (heavier forms of hydrogen). Within less than 100 trillionths of a second, 2.05 megajoules of energy attacked the hydrogen pellet. The output of the fusion experiment was an outward flow of neutron particles that had 3.15 megajoules, a 1.5 megajoule energy gain!

This was an outstanding result, compared to past attempts. In 1997, the federal government invested $3.5 billion into the National Ignition Facility. Operations began in 2009. At first, the facility could barely create any fusion, which one can imagine was an extreme disappointment. In 2014, the Livermore scientists found some success, but the energy produced was not enough. The next few years were met with little progress. The real change came in August last year, where the facility was able to produce a larger burst of energy than the energy they put in.

Compared to past events, this experiment was an outstanding success. It generated more than 50% of the energy that was put in. Jennifer Granholm, Energy Secretary, elaborates that “Ignition allows us to replicate, for the first time, certain conditions that are only found in the stars and sun.” This is a giant step forward because it opens the potential for zero-carbon emissions: to have abundant energy from fusion energy, and to be able to power society sustainably.

We Could Save The World!

Now, don’t get too excited; there is still a long way to go. Currently, nuclear fusion isn’t able to power the whole electric grid. Director Kim Budil of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory shares her opinion that she doesn’t want to give the wrong idea to people that they are “going to plug the (National Ignition Facility) into the grid; that’s not how this works.”

Still, everything starts somewhere. This experiment could lead to a future source of enormous energy, which will also lack the byproducts that cause pollution and greenhouse gasses like burning fossil fuels and radioactive waste. One glass of fuel from fusion has the potential energy that equals 1 million gallons of oil, and depending on the fusion approach, could generate up to 9 million kilowatt hours of electricity. This would be able to power a house for more than 800 years!

Another benefit is that fusion would be a more affordable approach for many. An article written in the London Financial Times confirms that fusion will “[provide] cheap, unlimited zero emissions electricity,” which could slow down the rate of global warming. Silicon Valley venture capitalist Sam Altman also “couldn’t be more optimistic” about it. Because nuclear fusion is the “best path out of climate crisis” and is affordable to many, it “is transformational for society.”

And I see it. A world where people will be able to have clean electricity, better transportation fuels, more efficient power, and cleaner power in industries. Imagine, if scientists are able to advance this finding, this is only a fraction of the ifs of the future. Most importantly, it will help slow down global warming, or at least hinder the path that Earth is currently on. I spy with my little eye hope.

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