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After decades of research, scientists have managed to produce nuclear fusion that exceeds the energy needed to perform it.
American scientists announced that they were able to produce more energy than that used in the nuclear fusion experiment.
It’s a feat that could mean an almost unlimited source of clean energy in the future.
Scientists say the result is an important milestone of science, pursued for decades, but say there is still a long way to go before fusion can power homes.
What did they do?
The experiment was conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California.
Nuclear fusion has been described as the “holy grail” of energy production. It is the process that supplies energy to the sun, and is responsible for its heat and light, and the other stars.
It works by bringing pairs of light atoms together and forcing them to stick together. This fusion releases a lot of energy.
It is the opposite of nuclear fission, where heavy atoms break apart. Fission is the technology currently used in nuclear power plants, but the process also produces a large amount of waste that emits radiation for a long time.
This waste can be hazardous and should be stored safely.
The opposite happens in nuclear fusion: only small amounts of radioactive waste, and for a short duration? It produces more energy.
Most importantly, the process produces no greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore does not contribute to climate change.
Challenge: temperature and pressure
To achieve nuclear fusion, one of the challenges is using high levels of temperature and pressure to hold the elements together.
To date, no nuclear fusion experiment has produced more energy than an attack.
In a laboratory experiment in California, scientists put a small amount of hydrogen into a capsule the size of a peppercorn.
Then they used a powerful 192-beam laser to heat and compress the hydrogen fuel.
The laser is so powerful that it can heat the capsule to 100 million degrees Celsius, a temperature higher than the center of the sun, and a pressure more than 100 billion times that of Earth’s atmosphere.
Under these forces, the capsule begins to implode on itself, forcing the hydrogen atoms to fuse together and release energy.
Announcing the finding, NSA deputy chief of defense programs Marvin Adams said the lab’s lasers delivered 2.05 megajoules of energy to the target, producing 3.15 megajoules of fusion energy.
Lots of time and work ahead
LLNL Director Kim Bodell said there are still significant hurdles until we can see fusion being used in power plants.
“Through joint efforts and investments, a few decades of research into basic technologies can put us in a position to build a power plant,” she said.
One of the main obstacles is reducing costs while increasing the volume of energy production.
The experiment was only able to produce enough energy to boil 15 to 20 boilers at a cost of $3.5 billion.
And while the experiment got more power than the laser produced, that didn’t include the energy needed to operate the laser, which was much greater than the amount of energy generated by hydrogen.
The lab in California has the most powerful laser system in the world
Photo: LLNL
in the right way
Melanie Windridge, Executive Director (Executive Director) from Fusion Energy Insights, told the BBC why scientists are so excited about this breakthrough.
“Fusion has excited scientists since discovering the process behind the sun’s brightness. These results have really put us on the path to commercializing the technology.”
Described by Jeremy B. Chittenden, Professor of Plasma Physics and Co-Director of the Center for Self-Confinement Fusion Studies at Imperial College London, calls it a “real game-changer” showing that the “holy grail” of fusion can be achieved.
It’s a sentiment echoed by physicists around the world, who have applauded the work of the international scientific community.
“Today’s success is based on the work done by many scientists in the US, UK and around the world. Not only has the power of fusion been unlocked, but the door to new science has been opened,” said Gianluca Gregory, professor of physics at the university. Oxford.
How close are we to a clean energy future?
Analysis by Rebecca Morell, editor cBBC Science
The amount of energy generated in this experiment is small, enough to boil a few kettles.
But what this represents is huge for the scientists who have spent a lot of time working on this technology. And it is for everyone.
The promise of a future fueled by nuclear fusion is closer. But, and there is always a “but” with these developments, there is still a long way to go before this becomes a reality.
Experience proves that science works. Now it must be iterated and improved before it can be scaled. The amount of energy generated must be greatly increased to meet the practical needs of humanity.
The other problem is the cost: The experiment cost billions of dollars. But the promise of a clean energy source, in the midst of the great problems of climate change caused by fossil energy, will certainly be a great incentive to overcome these challenges.
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