Comments on: How fusion works, and are we there yet? https://gregladen.com/blog/2022/12/13/how-fusion-works-and-are-we-there-yet/ Thu, 15 Dec 2022 05:28:12 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.6 By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2022/12/13/how-fusion-works-and-are-we-there-yet/#comment-985706 Thu, 15 Dec 2022 05:28:12 +0000 https://gregladen.com/blog/?p=34973#comment-985706 In reply to joe laden.

Sabine! A great explainer.

]]> By: joe laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2022/12/13/how-fusion-works-and-are-we-there-yet/#comment-985669 Tue, 13 Dec 2022 22:12:08 +0000 https://gregladen.com/blog/?p=34973#comment-985669 And they will run this with a quantum computer with a fusion-powered cooling unit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ4W1g-6JiY

]]> By: RickA https://gregladen.com/blog/2022/12/13/how-fusion-works-and-are-we-there-yet/#comment-985663 Tue, 13 Dec 2022 16:01:56 +0000 https://gregladen.com/blog/?p=34973#comment-985663 Greg:

Nice explanation! I agree we are still probably 40 or 50 years away. But progress!

When the lab reports they got out more energy than they put in – they are only talking about the energy in the laser beam versus what they got out. In reality it takes a lot more energy to power the equipment which generates the laser beam, so we are not really getting more out than we put in – if you factor in all the energy required to produce the laser beam (which is a lot more than the actual energy in the laser beam).

Still – fusion would be the best solution if we can get it to work, at scale and consistently. I also read that we have a very small amount of tritium, which is the preferred fuel for fusion. So even if we get fusion to work – once we scale it up will we run out of fuel? Not sure.

Still – nice article.

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