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Alternative to Tokamak Fusion Reactor
Sterling D. Allan writes to tell us OpenSourceEnergy is reporting on a "far more feasible and profoundly less expensive approach to hot fusion". Inventor Eric Lerner's focus fusion process uses hydrogen and boron to combine into helium which gives off tremendous energy with a very small material requirement. Lerner's project apparently only requires a few million in capital investment which is a far cry from the $10 billion being spent on the Tokamak fusion project.
Why does this guy keep going to governments for funding? They have too many interests pulling them all over. Wouldn't it be better to strike a deal with an energy company? Go talk to Shell, or Exxon.
I'm sorry but Shell, Exxon? That is the government.
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better." - Unknown
Unfortunately, scientists have had their professional lives scuttled and have even been murdered for doing far less than suggesting cheep and clean alternative energy sources. As such, I don't remain particularly hopeful about a massive public science break-through in the energy arena, but that doesn't mean we're not winning.
--I spent a week some months ago taking care of a neighbor's off-the-grid house. A big home which ran on geo-thermal energy and solar cells. It had most of the conveniences you'd expect from a modern suburban house, but all on 12 Volts DC. --Lighting and water pumping were not a problem, laptops were used instead of desktop computers, and various other appliances like radios and televisions were run with DC to AC converters. Even while feeding the needs of an active family of four, the array of chemical batteries which stored electricity from sunlight never dipped below 90% on any given day.
Cooking was done on a big gas range fed from a pair of huge propane tanks which contained enough propane to last more than a year. Water was drawn from a well. Refrigeration was the only puzzle still to be worked out, and while pondering it, the family had spent two years eating fresh foods while keeping milk and other such items in a basic camping cooler in the kitchen. --After realizing that this worked just fine, they basically concluded that they didn't really need a fridge in the first place.
Half the problem is not the power source, but the notion that we need so much of it. If we change the parameters of the problem, we can start using different solutions which have already been accepted by industry. Simple.
Despite the opposition, alternative energy is here for those who want it.
-FL