I presume I don't need to state that I view this with interested skepticism, but I'll state it anyway.
Some private energy firms reckon they are surmounting these practical challenges faster through the use of new materials and technologies. Oxfordshire-based Tokamak Energy is working on spherical tokamaks or reactors that use high temperature superconductors (HTS) to contain the plasma in a very strong magnetic field.
"High temperature" in the context of this branch of physics means a distinctly chilly -70C or below. "They've been by far the most successful to date," says Jonathan Carling, the firm's chief executive. "A spherical tokamak is a much more efficient topography, and we can drastically improve the compactness and the efficiency. And because it's smaller, it can be more flexible, and the cost to build is also lower," he says.
The company has built three tokamaks so far, with the third, ST40, built from 30mm (1.2in) stainless steel and using HTS magnets. This June it achieved plasma temperatures of more than 15 million C - hotter than the core of the sun.
The firm hopes to be hitting 100 million C by next summer - a feat Chinese scientists claim to have achieved this month. "We expect to have energy gain capability by 2022 and be supplying energy to the grid by 2030," says Mr Carling.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46219656
Yes, fusion power will provide cheap energy. In 20 years... And always in 20 years
ReplyDeleteMind you, some things which seem to take forever do eventually arrive.
ReplyDeleteWinchell Chung it’s like AI, which from the start was always 10 years away.
ReplyDeleteApparently it’s starting to become real in limited spaces, although a real, general AI, may be “10 years away”.