Friday, October 17, 2014 10:58:13 PM
Lockheed Martin claims breakthrough on nuclear fusion
Lockheed Martin, the American defense contractor, has claimed a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion as
an energy source. The company said it would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year.
Lockheed Martin said Wednesday it was developing a compact power source based on nuclear fusion that was 10 times smaller than any existing fusion reactor.
In an online statement .. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2014/october/141015ae_lockheed-martin-pursuing-compact-nucelar-fusion.html, the company said it planned to have a prototype ready in five years and deploy an operational reactor within "as little as ten years."
"Our compact fusion concept combines several alternative magnetic confinement approaches, taking the best parts of each, and offers a 90 percent size reduction over previous concepts," said Tom McGuire, head of the Skunk Works' Revolutionary Technology Programs.
While the company did not go into more detail online about what such an energy source might look like, the Reuters news agency, citing McGuire, said Lockheed Martin had shown it could build a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet (two meters by three meters) - small enough to fit on the back of a large truck.
McGuire noted that Lockheed Martin was now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.
An inexhaustible source of energy
If realized, Lockheed's fusion reactor would put mankind one step closer to finding an inexhaustible source of energy .. http://www.dw.de/recreating-the-suns-energy-in-a-hamster-wheel/a-5345233.
Reuters cited McGuire as saying the reactor would use deuterium-tritium fuel, which can generate nearly 10 million times more energy than the same amount of fossil fuel.
Nuclear fusion .. http://www.dw.de/how-will-electricity-be-generated-in-a-hundred-years-time/a-15886707 .. is the merging of hydrogen atoms - the process that occurs on the Sun. This differs from nuclear fission, the splitting of atoms - mostly uranium - that is common to conventional nuclear power plants.
While both processes release enormous amounts of energy, fusion power has its advantages. The supply of hydrogen for fuel is virtually unlimited because seawater can be used, for one, and fusion power does not require the long-term storage of radioactive waste.
uhe/cjc (Reuters, lockheedmartin.com)
DW recommends
How will electricity be generated in a hundred years’ time?
Fossil energy reserves are running out, and nuclear power is a controversial issue. Renewable energy still has
a long way to go. So what does the future hold, for instance when it comes to producing electricity? (16.04.2012)
http://www.dw.de/how-will-electricity-be-generated-in-a-hundred-years-time/a-15886707
Recreating the sun's energy in a hamster wheel
German researchers believe that nuclear fusion can create a constant source of energy. They are so convinced that
they're building a massive research reactor that generates power in the same way it's made on the sun. (17.03.2010)
http://www.dw.de/recreating-the-suns-energy-in-a-hamster-wheel/a-5345233
Nuclear fusion reactor faces delays, budget woes
ITER involves a multinational effort to harness energy produced through nuclear fusion. This week, partner
countries are meeting to push for progress amid massive cost overruns and project delays. (27.07.2010)
http://www.dw.de/nuclear-fusion-reactor-faces-delays-budget-woes/a-5841888
http://www.dw.de/lockheed-martin-claims-breakthrough-on-nuclear-fusion/a-17998386
The developments in nuclear fusion are exciting, and seem to me, in any optimistic view, to give a boost
to Paul Krugman's present positions on renewables/new technology and future growth as compared to
positions held by such as those of the Post Carbon Institute .. who are very critical of Krugman here ..
Paul Krugman’s Errors and Omissions
by Richard Heinberg, originally published by Post Carbon Institute | Sep 22, 2014
In a New York Times op-ed published September 18 titled “Errors and Emissions .. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/opinion/paul-krugman-could-fighting-global-warming-be-cheap-and-free.html,” economist-columnist Paul Krugman took a swipe at my organization, Post Carbon Institute, lumping us together with the Koch brothers as purveyors of “climate despair.” No, the Koch brothers are not in despair about the climate; apparently our shared error is that we say fighting climate change and growing the economy are incompatible. And, according to Krugman, a new report .. http://newclimateeconomy.report/ .. from the New Climate Economy Project (NCEP) and a working paper .. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp14174.pdf .. from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the falling cost of renewable energy means this is happily not the case.
But in our view Krugman himself is guilty of five critical errors, and three equally serious omissions. First the errors:
1. He mistakes post-growth realism for anti-growth activism. While Krugman linked to my book The End of Growth .. http://www.resilience.org/book/364387-the-end-of-growth, it seems he may not have actually read it. If he had he would understand that we are not advocating the deliberate termination of growth that could otherwise be easily sustained; rather, we see clear evidence that growth is ending of its own accord because our economy is hitting biophysical limits at a speed and scale that are outpacing humanity’s ability to adapt. The most critical limit to economic growth is the availability of affordable fossil fuels, those extraordinary resources around which we’ve organized the entire global economy (and its hundreds of trillions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure) over the last century. Economists do generally recognize this limit, but summarily dismiss it as a problem seamlessly fixable by the market. .. more .. http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-09-22/paul-krugman-s-errors-and-omissions#
The latter one has been on tab for a few days, i couldn't figure whether just to toss it or
not and now with the fusion one, i hope, lol, gives it a bit of better reason for posting it.
Lockheed Martin, the American defense contractor, has claimed a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion as
an energy source. The company said it would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year.
Lockheed Martin said Wednesday it was developing a compact power source based on nuclear fusion that was 10 times smaller than any existing fusion reactor.
In an online statement .. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2014/october/141015ae_lockheed-martin-pursuing-compact-nucelar-fusion.html, the company said it planned to have a prototype ready in five years and deploy an operational reactor within "as little as ten years."
"Our compact fusion concept combines several alternative magnetic confinement approaches, taking the best parts of each, and offers a 90 percent size reduction over previous concepts," said Tom McGuire, head of the Skunk Works' Revolutionary Technology Programs.
While the company did not go into more detail online about what such an energy source might look like, the Reuters news agency, citing McGuire, said Lockheed Martin had shown it could build a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet (two meters by three meters) - small enough to fit on the back of a large truck.
McGuire noted that Lockheed Martin was now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.
An inexhaustible source of energy
If realized, Lockheed's fusion reactor would put mankind one step closer to finding an inexhaustible source of energy .. http://www.dw.de/recreating-the-suns-energy-in-a-hamster-wheel/a-5345233.
Reuters cited McGuire as saying the reactor would use deuterium-tritium fuel, which can generate nearly 10 million times more energy than the same amount of fossil fuel.
Nuclear fusion .. http://www.dw.de/how-will-electricity-be-generated-in-a-hundred-years-time/a-15886707 .. is the merging of hydrogen atoms - the process that occurs on the Sun. This differs from nuclear fission, the splitting of atoms - mostly uranium - that is common to conventional nuclear power plants.
While both processes release enormous amounts of energy, fusion power has its advantages. The supply of hydrogen for fuel is virtually unlimited because seawater can be used, for one, and fusion power does not require the long-term storage of radioactive waste.
uhe/cjc (Reuters, lockheedmartin.com)
DW recommends
How will electricity be generated in a hundred years’ time?
Fossil energy reserves are running out, and nuclear power is a controversial issue. Renewable energy still has
a long way to go. So what does the future hold, for instance when it comes to producing electricity? (16.04.2012)
http://www.dw.de/how-will-electricity-be-generated-in-a-hundred-years-time/a-15886707
Recreating the sun's energy in a hamster wheel
German researchers believe that nuclear fusion can create a constant source of energy. They are so convinced that
they're building a massive research reactor that generates power in the same way it's made on the sun. (17.03.2010)
http://www.dw.de/recreating-the-suns-energy-in-a-hamster-wheel/a-5345233
Nuclear fusion reactor faces delays, budget woes
ITER involves a multinational effort to harness energy produced through nuclear fusion. This week, partner
countries are meeting to push for progress amid massive cost overruns and project delays. (27.07.2010)
http://www.dw.de/nuclear-fusion-reactor-faces-delays-budget-woes/a-5841888
http://www.dw.de/lockheed-martin-claims-breakthrough-on-nuclear-fusion/a-17998386
The developments in nuclear fusion are exciting, and seem to me, in any optimistic view, to give a boost
to Paul Krugman's present positions on renewables/new technology and future growth as compared to
positions held by such as those of the Post Carbon Institute .. who are very critical of Krugman here ..
Paul Krugman’s Errors and Omissions
by Richard Heinberg, originally published by Post Carbon Institute | Sep 22, 2014
In a New York Times op-ed published September 18 titled “Errors and Emissions .. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/opinion/paul-krugman-could-fighting-global-warming-be-cheap-and-free.html,” economist-columnist Paul Krugman took a swipe at my organization, Post Carbon Institute, lumping us together with the Koch brothers as purveyors of “climate despair.” No, the Koch brothers are not in despair about the climate; apparently our shared error is that we say fighting climate change and growing the economy are incompatible. And, according to Krugman, a new report .. http://newclimateeconomy.report/ .. from the New Climate Economy Project (NCEP) and a working paper .. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp14174.pdf .. from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the falling cost of renewable energy means this is happily not the case.
But in our view Krugman himself is guilty of five critical errors, and three equally serious omissions. First the errors:
1. He mistakes post-growth realism for anti-growth activism. While Krugman linked to my book The End of Growth .. http://www.resilience.org/book/364387-the-end-of-growth, it seems he may not have actually read it. If he had he would understand that we are not advocating the deliberate termination of growth that could otherwise be easily sustained; rather, we see clear evidence that growth is ending of its own accord because our economy is hitting biophysical limits at a speed and scale that are outpacing humanity’s ability to adapt. The most critical limit to economic growth is the availability of affordable fossil fuels, those extraordinary resources around which we’ve organized the entire global economy (and its hundreds of trillions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure) over the last century. Economists do generally recognize this limit, but summarily dismiss it as a problem seamlessly fixable by the market. .. more .. http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-09-22/paul-krugman-s-errors-and-omissions#
The latter one has been on tab for a few days, i couldn't figure whether just to toss it or
not and now with the fusion one, i hope, lol, gives it a bit of better reason for posting it.
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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