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Fusion power has been 20 years away for the past 50 or 60 years according to the top scientists in the field at the time. I suspect there's a good chance that i
by Zak 15y ago
Fusion power has been 20 years away for the past 50 or 60 years according to the top scientists in the field at the time. I suspect there's a good chance that in 20 years, it will still be 20 years away.
- Retric 15y agoI would argue that Fusion power has been 20 years (aka 2 power plants) away after we built JET in 1983. Except, we never actually built the next fusion power plant. Based on past progress I would estimate Fusion as a useful power source is 50+ years away. However we could build a net energy gain Fusion power plant today just using the scaled up ITER plans that we scaled down to useless levels. At this point the real issue is cost and Fusion is useless unless it's cheaper than wind power. Edit: You can see actual progress on ITER http://www.iter.org/doc/all/edit/img_galleries/chantier_25.05.2011-aif.mj_edited.jpg http://www.iter.org/doc/all/edit/img_galleries/chantier_25.0... But, wait that's just an amphitheater the actual fusion power plant is still a hole in the ground http://www.iter.org/doc/all/edit/img_galleries/dsc_0767.jpg http://www.iter.org/doc/all/edit/img_galleries/dsc_0767.jpg (June 2011). PS: The US program has been derailed by attempts at fusion using lasers which had nothing to due with power plants and everything to do with simulating bombs. As to Europe they are just really slow Japan did make some interesting progress but they don't really allocate the money to fund such things.
- maeon3 15y agoI hear the statement: "Technology T is Y years away", all the time, it is usually is just speculation and wishful thinking. I would rather people replace that overused line with the statement: "Technology T has barriers B, C and D preventing its successful implementation and mass production". Leave feel-good speculation out of it and focus on overcoming the obstacles.
- SoftwareMaven 15y agoI would imagine talking to lay-people in terms of road-blocks instead of hypothetical times would cause a net reduction in funding, and these kinds of articles are all about funding.
- nuxi 15y agoMandatory SMBC comic: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1984#comic http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1984#c...