Charlie Darwin <theantislamist@gmail.com> 12:04 AM (1 hour ago)

to hubski Well my reply was too confrontational I guess- but what do you expect when ignoring the blue whale in the jacuzzi? Honestly no discussion of humanity's future is relevant without including climate change and how to ameliorate it; nothing can be done to nullify CC because it is already too far advanced for current or anticipated technologies to have any effect. I read the link and some of the fusion claims but as usual, it is 'just around the corner'... or according to Michio Kaku, at least 20 years away. Are the following points valid, or not?

1. Laboratory fusion is easy compared to industrial scale engineering 2. Construction costs are astronomical 3. ITER is already twice over budget 4. Safety- what if the magnetic containment of the plasma fails? What effect would a burst of neutrons have? Would meltdown be possible? "100 million C. At this temperature, the hydrogen nuclei fuse to produce helium, releasing neutrons and a huge amount of energy. The plasma is so hot that a powerful magnetic field is needed to stop it from touching the reactor's walls" 5. In the 50's the 'experts' ALL claimed fission reactors would produce clean, nearly free power; in fact they were used to produce weapon grade plutonium as the political essential. Whilst fusion reactors cannot be used for such nefarious purposes, we have reason to be suspicious of the claimed outcomes... 6. IF fusion is achieved commercially we still have the current scenario of centralised power generation, with high distribution costs and losses. 7. With this in mind, it is likely that small decentralised thorium reactors may prove to be far cheaper, safer and more practical. India and China are investing heavily in research. The principle was priven in the 60's but dropped in favour of uranium fission, for the reason stated in 5. 8. AFAIK, fusion is NOT 100% clean since the linings of the containment chamber are irradiated and must be changed out

As for solar and wind power, both have severe limitations, unable to produce 24/7 and subsidy dependent, for now. I'd thought that wave/tidal was the way to go but apparently not, in spite of almost 100% availability and high energy density.

So, I think the picture is not as rosy as you suggest.