Submitted by noelcowardspeaksout t3_y1akde in Futurology
thegodfatherderecho t1_irwjkn9 wrote
Reply to comment by BeeeMOe in UK to build first grid connected Fusion Power plant by noelcowardspeaksout
Fusion energy is 20 years away from being 20 years away.
oldcreaker t1_irwl66s wrote
That's an improvement - I've been watching it be 30 years away from being 30 years away for a very long time now.
imperfectably t1_irwpurw wrote
By very long time do you mean 40 years ago?
oldcreaker t1_irwqy5i wrote
imperfectably t1_irwro3n wrote
Fair enough. Was thinking if 20 years ago they were saying 30 years from being 30 years away. And mow they are saying 20 years from being 20 years away. Then they would actually be on schedule. But doesn’t look like it.
Junesucksatart t1_irxasmh wrote
I definitely wouldn’t hold my breath but some companies are getting really close to breaking Q.
CelestialWonderer t1_iry9rqo wrote
What does Q mean? Sorry, I’m a bit ignorant on this topic
Junesucksatart t1_iryb5ux wrote
Q refers to the ratio of energy put into the fusion system compared to the energy that comes out. Creating a fusion reaction is the easy part, getting more energy than you put in is the hard part.
CelestialWonderer t1_is0gtzt wrote
Thank you
beatthestupidout t1_irzx1kz wrote
It is an improvement. I bring it up in every thread where someone says the same thing, and if you track mentions of the time to fusion over the last 70 years, the jokes and reality seem to converge on a point about 10-20 years away.
tall_strong_master t1_irx3xn8 wrote
Not anymore. Its now Z > 1.0, so now its 5 years away from being an engineering problem.
This for d-T fusion needing a steam generator.
In 20 years they may be able to do p-B fusion, which wouldn't need steam and has no radioactive byproducts.
beatthestupidout t1_irzx9y1 wrote
Not no byproducts, but significantly reduced. You can't control side reactions, however unlikely they are. B11 + He4 (the expected byproduct of p + B11) = N14 + n. There's also a rare p + B11 = C11 + n to watch out for as well.
It's a massive improvement on every reaction shitting out neutrons though, and because the main byproduct is a charged particle you can use direct energy conversion instead of going via steam which means the energy output threshold for viability is around 60% of what it would be otherwise.
*C11, not C12 sorry. That then decays with a half life of 20 minutes back into boron-11.
tall_strong_master t1_is0xytp wrote
Thanks! Of course you're right.
BeeeMOe t1_irwkg41 wrote
Lmao alright thanks I'm looking forward to it
Stercore_ t1_irx0vxw wrote
Just as it was 20 years ago
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