The US Department of Energy is set to announce today a “major scientific achievement” related to the production of energy from nuclear fusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have reportedly achieved net energy balance for the first time, that is, producing more energy than was consumed in the experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Firing Facility at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory uses an array of powerful lasers to heat a small amount of hydrogen and cause fusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest round of experiments appears to have produced more energy than the lasers consumed, but probably less than the total amount of energy required to operate the entire system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This result is far from the actual positive energy balance required for electricity generation. We can therefore say that this is a scientific success, but it is far from providing free energy,” Tony Raulstone of the University of Cambridge in Britain commented to CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest round of experiments appears to have produced more energy than the lasers consumed, but probably less than the total amount of energy required to operate the entire system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This result is far from the actual positive energy balance required for electricity generation. We can therefore say that this is a scientific success, but it is far from providing free energy,” Tony Raulstone of the University of Cambridge in Britain commented to CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scientists around the world have been trying for decades to harness fusion, the nuclear reaction that powers stars, to make the dream of clean, inexhaustible energy a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike nuclear fission reactions, in which heavy atoms such as uranium split into lighter ones, in fission reactions hydrogen atoms combine to form heavier helium atoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The products of the reaction have slightly less mass than the original amount of hydrogen, with the missing mass being converted into heat, which can eventually be converted into electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A key obstacle is that these reactions require temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius, more than 10 times hotter than the temperature at the heart of the Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other experimental setups in the US, Europe and Asia are taking a different approach, using electromagnetic fields to heat hydrogen inside reactors called tokamaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official announcement is expected from the US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Fusion Industry Association, in 2021 alone private investment in fusion experiments exceeded 2.8 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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