Radical technological advances, cold fusion being an example, seem to belong in Star Trek episodes rather than credible scientific discussion. Last month one of these “far out” technologies, specifically the availability of unlimited energy, received an unexpected step towards plausibility from the scientists in Lawrence Livermore Labs.
The scientists, headed by Siegfried H. Glenzer and L. Jeffrey Atherton, are using 192 high powered lasers to focus large amounts of energy on a very small particle. The goal is to achieve “ignition,” or to heat the small elemental speck to millions of degrees Fahrenheit nearly instantly, creating a small scale reaction of our own sun. Once perfected, this reaction could yield a virtually limitless supply of clean energy.
“We’re confident of our ability to start seeking ignition this summer,” Atherton said in an interview. “And we’re optimistic that at some point soon we’ll achieve it.”
A recent article published by SFGate.com states: “To achieve that thermonuclear reaction, the scientists will attempt to use the lasers’ immensely powerful beams to reach temperatures of more than 200 million degrees Fahrenheit and pressures millions of times greater than Earth’s atmosphere – conditions found only in the interior of the sun and stars…
“If those experiments succeed, the hydrogen isotopes would be crushed instantly and explode inward until they fuse and yield vastly more energy than the laser beams had pumped into them.”
One small step for lasers… one giant leap for Clean Tech.
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After the EU signed Kyoto, requiring it to reduce carbon emissions 8% below 1990 levels by 2012, many products and design changed there, diverging from US standards. Cars, for example, became smaller, lighter; and more fuel efficient. Even US automakers not known for efficiency make 62 MPG cars for Europe. Germany and Spain introduced Feed-in Tariffs that paid homeowners to make solar power on their roofs.But most interestingly, for Americans now considering energy efficient retrofits with a new “Cash for Caulkers” program being considered, a whole new industry was created by the need to supply new energy efficient building innovations. Energy efficient glass.
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