Visiting scientist says fusion energy is way of the future

Visiting University of Canterbury scientist says fusion energy is the way of the future

January 13, 2015

A scientist from one of the world’s leading universities says fusion energy is the future of clean energy and can solve the looming global energy crisis, though challenges remain.

Associate Professor Anne White from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says fusion generates more energy per reaction than any other energy source. It produces nearly 10 million times more energy than the same amount of fossil fuel. Dr White is visiting the University of Canterbury and presented a paper on her research today.

Fusion is the nuclear process that powers the stars. It is two light elements coming together in a fusion reaction to make a heavier element. The fuel for fusion is hydrogen, and more specifically, isotopes of hydrogen, she says. Fusion is a nuclear reaction that releases energy not by splitting heavy atomic nuclei apart, as happens in nuclear power stations, but by fusing light nuclei together.

``Fusion is better than hydro or thermal power like you have in New Zealand in that a fusion power plant requires very little land or space to build. You don't have to dam up a river and you don't have to alter a naturally beautiful and unique geothermal area to make energy."

``Of course, there are pros and cons to every energy option. The world needs to pursue all options on the table. Fusion is generally very good because it is a clean option, with abundant fuel".

``The huge downside to fusion is that we haven't yet built a working demonstration power plant. While we generally know how to do it, a fusion reactor would be very expensive. Making fusion able to economically compete with coal, gas, hydro, solar, fission or geothermal will be tough.

`` A new international experiment (ITER) to show the viability of fusion energy is being built now in France, with seven partners - China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States.

``Although ITER will not produce electricity, it will show the way to solve key issues and will take fusion to the next step, where a demonstration fusion power plant can be designed. ITER is a very large very complex project, in the cost-scale of $US10 billions. In terms of big science, this is similar to things like the International Space Station project or the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

``But with refinement of physics and advances in technology and engineering, fusion electricity could be competitive in the future. Given the nearly zero environmental impact in terms of space or land and nearly no waste and abundant fuel, countries could choose fusion even if it weren't the cheapest option.

``That is what is so great about fusion is it would be clean, inexhaustible energy that would be available to every nation. Given how important conservation and environmental issues are to New Zealand, I imagine that nuclear energy -- fission and fusion -- would be of interest to this country generally.

``And there is enough fusion fuel on Earth to produce energy for thousands of years. The fuel for fusion is readily available in the Earth’s oceans and can be easily created from natural lithium deposits with supplies allowing fusion to meet the world’s energy needs for thousands of years,” Associate Professor Anne White says.

Almost 2000 students studied physics and astronomy at the University of Canterbury last year including more than 40 postgraduate students.

ENDS

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