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Does fusion still have much of a role now that renewables are increasingly competetive? We can pretty much already harness infinite energy for all our needs fro
by dangjc 8y ago
Does fusion still have much of a role now that renewables are increasingly competetive? We can pretty much already harness infinite energy for all our needs from an already working fusion generator our planet happens to orbit around.
- ethbro 8y ago> now that renewables are increasingly competetive... ... with legacy energy sources. When talking about fusion / nuclear vs renewables, think in terms of max energy produced per site, not cost per unit. Similar to total thrust vs specific impulse. The largest respective power generation stations by source -- Three Gorges Dam / Itaipu Dam (Hydro, 22,500 MW capacity, ~100 TWh/yr), Kashiwazaki-Kariwa (Nuclear, 7,965 MW capacity, 60 TWh/yr, currently suspended for earthquake-proofing), Tengger Desert Solar Park (Solar, 1,547 MW capacity, ? TWh/yr), Alta Wind Energy Center (Onshore Wind, 1,547 MW capacity, 2.68 TWh/yr, Gansu not included due to utilization issues), Walney Wind Farm (Offshore Wind, ~1,000 MW capacity, >1.3 TWh/yr?). And then realize that hydro & wind are both location-limited. And solar has a large footprint: Tengger is 43km^2. Nuclear (and eventually fusion) scales footprint much more slowly with capacity. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is 4.2km^2.