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Fusion is very unlikely to become a viable energy source in the near-term, but it is something we can use to make helium if we are desperate enough.
by RC_ITR 3y ago
Fusion is very unlikely to become a viable energy source in the near-term, but it is something we can use to make helium if we are desperate enough.
- CamperBob2 3y agoI asked about this once and someone pointed out the obvious E=mc^2 issue: a fusion reactor will generate only a trivial amount of helium in the process of releasing a large amount of energy.
- smegsicle 3y agoim in my post-energy-scarcity future, blasting plasma into space as fast as i can to squeeze out a party balloon
- arrowsmith 3y agoSo if fusion allows to generate preposterous amounts of cheap energy, what will be easier: generating commercial helium as a by-product, or using all that energy to go and bring helium home from Jupiter?
- hypercube33 3y agoCurrently we need helium to cool the superconducting magnets used to generate fusion reactions so the cart there is before the horse kind of problem, until someone comes up with a better solution.