Teutonic fusion reactor is a reality . . .

[Moose-Knuckle]

Germany makes landmark fusion power achievement as W7-X reactor fires up for real


On Wednesday, a team of researchers at Max Planck Institute in Greifswald switched on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator for the very first time


“It’s a very clean source of power, the cleanest you could possibly wish for,” said John Jelonnek, a physicist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology whose team is responsible for the huge microwave ovens that will transform the hydrogen into plasma. “We’re not doing this for us but for our children and grandchildren.”

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/germany-makes-landmark-fusion-power-191453294.html



It's 2016, I mean come on already! Doc Brown acquired his Mr. Fusion in 2015 . . .

[Honu]

in a few years when the mussies take over wonder what will happen to it :)

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Sounds like we may get unlimited electrical power right around when AI becomes cognizant. What could go wrong with that?

[nova3930]

It's not talked about much, but we're stupid close to workable, commercial fusion power.

There's also the ITER project which is essentially a prototype of a commercial scale fusion reactor. It's scheduled to go live in 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER

The thing about having a cheap, clean primary energy source is you can do things like snag hydrogen from water, combine it with CO2 from the air along with a catalyst and produce liquid fuel.

[cbx]

It's not talked about much, but we're stupid close to workable, commercial fusion power.

There's also the ITER project which is essentially a prototype of a commercial scale fusion reactor. It's scheduled to go live in 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER

The thing about having a cheap, clean primary energy source is you can do things like snag hydrogen from water, combine it with CO2 from the air along with a catalyst and produce liquid fuel.
Thanks for the link.

[black22rifle]

How would this benefit society besides the fact its a very clean source of energy? How renewable is it? Will people also be required to pay for it?

[nova3930]

The fact that it might replace fossil fuels so you don't have to deal with the ass holes that produce so much of them

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[Honu]

or its just a stunt from the recent X-Diles episode :)
they have had this all along :)

[Dist. Expert 26]

It's been said before, but cheap energy doesn't make anybody money, so I wouldn't expect this technology to really see widespread use until the oil runs dry. Far too many politicians have their hands soaked in black gold for any major changes to be made.

[Inkslinger]

It's not talked about much, but we're stupid close to workable, commercial fusion power.

There's also the ITER project which is essentially a prototype of a commercial scale fusion reactor. It's scheduled to go live in 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER

The thing about having a cheap, clean primary energy source is you can do things like snag hydrogen from water, combine it with CO2 from the air along with a catalyst and produce liquid fuel.

My brother is a mechanical engineer and spent some time in France working on this project. His work was with the super conducting magnets that would contain the plasma which would produce temperatures somewhere near 10 times the temperature of the sun. A daunting task for sure. The amount of energy required to start the process is almost as much as what would be generated, with the only real advantage being the ability to stop the reaction by simply turning it off, and not having radioactive material to keep cool. I get the impression he doesn't have high hopes of it successfully coming online in 2020.

[Ready.Fire.Aim]

Small modular fusion may happen in our lifetime, read the Dec. 2025 Scientific American. It won't be tokamaks, or magnetic bottles.

Fusion =cheap Desalinsation = billions of arid acres worldwide become possible to farm.

Manufacturing costs notably decrease.

No petrodollars = reduced funding for terrorism.

Oil major corporations suddenly find themselves with Kodak's business model.

Electric market transforms as fast as cell phones. Generation is regional, no need for transmission, just distribution. Wind, solar, fission rapidly become archaic.

Hydrocarbons will still be valuable as a feedstock for plastics.

[nova3930]

My brother is a mechanical engineer and spent some time in France working on this project. His work was with the super conducting magnets that would contain the plasma which would produce temperatures somewhere near 10 times the temperature of the sun. A daunting task for sure. The amount of energy required to start the process is almost as much as what would be generated, with the only real advantage being the ability to stop the reaction by simply turning it off, and not having radioactive material to keep cool. I get the impression he doesn't have high hopes of it successfully coming online in 2020.

Wouldn't shock me if they schedule slip. I think one of the goals of the projects is to increase the reaction efficiency

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[SteveS]

How would this benefit society besides the fact its a very clean source of energy? How renewable is it? Will people also be required to pay for it?

Renewable? Well yeah people would have to pay for it.