DailyDirt: Baby Steps Towards Fusion Reactors

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fusion is always just 30 years away, but we seem to be actually making some progress after decades of building huge superconducting magnets that will probably be impractical for producing net energy. We've seen Lockheed Martin and a bunch of fusion energy startups claiming to be able to control a fusion reaction in less than 30 years, but economically generating energy is still a distant milestone.

• Are tokamak designs for fusion reactors a dead-end technology for ever producing energy? Safety regulations and the complexity of the tokamak design might prevent this fusion reactor technology from becoming a commercial venture. [url]
• A stellarator fusion generator is based on a design from the 1950s that might be getting popular again. Stellarators are a bit more complicated to build than tokmaks, but they're less prone to disruptions that could shut down operations, so they can run for a bit longer and could give us a better idea of how to control continuous fusion in a contained plasma. The billion-euro Wendelstein 7-X is about to turn on, and it could lead to a more reliable fusion reactor design. [url]
• Perhaps "big science" funding isn't the right strategy, and science should follow a startup incubator model? YC Research (a Y Combinator project) is going to try to tackle fundamental science problems... starting with just $10 million in funding. Perhaps more companies like Helion Energy will emerge to produce fusion generators -- but how does a non-profit division with a 30-year horizon for its goals... feed into a startup incubator? (Ask Google Alphabet?) [url]

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Filed Under: big science, energy, fusion, fusion reactor, plasma, stellarator, tokamak, wendelstein 7-x, yc research
Companies: helion energy, y combinator

DailyDirt: Making Progress Towards Fusion (Again)

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fusion would be a real game-changer if we could actually harness it to generate energy. The problem, though, is that we're pretty far from controlling the insanely hot nuclear reactions in a way that produces net energy. Sure, almost anyone can build a fusion reactor. (But seriously, don't bring one to school to impress your teachers, kids!) The trick is maintaining hot plasma somewhere safe for as long as you need to -- and to figure out a way to get usable energy out of your fusion reactor. Some folks have reported reaching some milestones, but fusion still sounds more than 30 years away, as usual.

• Is a practical fusion generator actually within sight now? Huge fusion projects are still projecting decades of more research before achieving any kind of energy production, but some smaller privately-funded projects seem to be making some milestone advances. MIT's ARC reactor (affordable, robust, compact) has thrown its concept design into the ring as well. However, it's still uncertain whether we'll have a working fusion generator within a decade. (Ahem. Probably not.) [url]
• The common approaches to fusion energy include: inertial confinement fusion (ICF), magnetic confinement fusion (MCF), and a hybrid of those two called magnetized target fusion (MTF). ICF and MCF have been battling over which is getting closer to a break-even point, and MTF doesn't seem to have had as much progress in recent years. But there may be other approaches that don't quite fit into these categories that might work even better. [url]
• Tri Alpha Energy claims to have achieved confinement of a plasma at about 10 million degrees Celsius for 5 milliseconds. This California company reports that it can maintain control over this plasma indefinitely, but they're using energy to do so -- not making any net energy (yet). Still, this precursor to a unique hydrogen-boron fusion reactor could beat the ITER to a practical fusion generator. [url]

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Filed Under: arc reactor, energy, fusion, hydrogen-boron fusion, icf, inertial confinement fusion, iter, magnetic confinement fusion, magnetized target fusion, mcf, mtf, nuclear energy, plasma
Companies: tri alpha energy

DailyDirt: Harnessing The Energy All Around Us

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wearable devices would be a whole lot more convenient if they didn't need to be charged regularly -- if only self-winding watches could also be smartwatches. It's not an entirely crazy idea, but smartwatches would have to be very energy efficient and not use much power in the first place. Nano-generators and ambient energy harvesting aren't quite ready to keep the latest gadgets going indefinitely, but folks are working on this problem.

• One energy-harvesting nanogenerator made of zinc oxide nanorods can turn sound into electricity. A pocket-sized device with arrays of these little nanorods can convert sound vibrations into a 5-volt power supply. Not exactly a revolutionary battery replacement... yet? [url]
• Controlled bursts of plasma could transfer energy quickly from location to location, but it's not that easy to direct plasma outside of a vacuum tube surrounded by electromagnets. Researchers just need a little more funding to get 1.21 GW of lightning into a flux capacitor, and then we'll be all set. [url]
• Thermoelectric materials can convert heat into electricity, but decades of research hasn't yet produced a thermoelectric generator that wasn't for niche or novelty applications. A thermoelectric generator (TEG) prototype could be attached to solar heat collectors or the engine of a vehicle to capture waste heat, but commercialization is still years away. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: battery, electricity, energy, energy harvesters, materials, nanogenerators, nanotech, plasma, teg, thermoelectric, waste heat

DailyDirt: Alternatives To Projectile Weapons

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Ray guns have been exclusive to science fiction for quite some time now. So far, hurling bits of metal is pretty effective, but it seems so barbaric. Even Tasers aren't wireless. Here are just a few examples of some impressive directed energy weapons that are getting close to becoming actual tools of war.

• The Russians are working on electromagnetic radiation guns that can attack a target's organs or central nervous system. Such electromagnetic weapons could burn people's skin from a distance or lobotomize crowds of people with a sweeping zap. [url]
• Boeing and the US Air Force have tested a high power microwave weapon that can fry electronics and disable the electrical systems of an entire building. This weapon wouldn't kill anyone directly, but it could be useful for knocking out infrastructure in a prelude to a conventional military attack. [url]
• A Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) can direct an artificial bolt of lightning at a conductive target. A laser pulse shot directed at a bad guy can zap him by creating plasma from the air that is synchronized with extremely high voltage. But what if the enemy has a lightning rod? [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: emp, lightning, lipc, microwave, plasma, weapons
Companies: boeing, usaf

Australia May Ban Plasma And LCD TVs Over Energy Concerns

from the just-replace-them-with-flourescents dept

Australian politicians are clearly concerned about energy consumption. Earlier this year, they were among the first to look to ban the incandescent bulb in favor of fluorescent bulbs. Now it looks like they're getting ready to take on televisions. New regulations may end up effectively banning both plasma and LCD TV screens as energy hogs (found via The Raw Feed). We all know that these big screen TVs are the SUVs of the electricity world, but does that really mean they should be banned completely? There are definitely efforts under way to make the systems more energy efficient, and many buyers are certainly aware of these issues (or they are as soon as they get their electricity bills). If anything, this seems like the sort of problem that works itself out without the need for the government to step in and force folks back into the world of big bulky TVs with (gasp!) small screens. Update: As noted in the comments, the Australian gov't has come out to say that a ban on plasma and LCD TVs is greatly exaggerated.

Filed Under: australia, energy, lcd, plasma, tv