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I read this article, and I couldn't help thinking — Couldn't they spend these billions on something like deep geothermal energy and get a much better (and more
by mindbet 13y ago
I read this article, and I couldn't help thinking — Couldn't they spend these billions on something like deep geothermal energy and get a much better (and more likely) return?
- drjesusphd 13y agoNot really. What's nice about fusion is the ridiculous amount of energy that would be available as fuel. Geothermal would do very little. www.withouthotair.com
- oxryly1 13y agoHindsight and all. I think the promises of fusion energy turned out to be overhyped during the latter 20th century.
- vilhelm_s 13y agoOne good resource for this kind of question is David MacKay's book "Sustainably Energy - Without the Hot Air" (free online: http://www.withouthotair.com/ http://www.withouthotair.com/). He goes through each type of sustainable energy source and estimates how much power it can provide. At least in the UK, the total potential for geothermal energy is quite small, much less than other sources such as wind and solar. But its a nice short-term supplement, we can construct them today. Having working fusion would be an amazing thing. The raw materials (lithium and deuterium) are plentiful enough that they will basically never run out, it would provide energy forever.