Scientists have made a major leap forward in the pursuit of an environmentally-friendly, cost-efficient form of energy with their successful experiment replicating nuclear fusion. Through combining lighter elements such as hydrogen to create heavier ones, they released more energy than was input – unlocking endless possibilities for sustainable and clean power sources. The revolutionary approach could revolutionize how we generate light and heat in our world much like that seen from stars across the universe.
After decades of research, scientists have made a breakthrough in nuclear fusion. According to the Financial Times, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) were able to produce an impressive energy gain – releasing 2.5 MJ of energy after using just 2.1 MJ for heating with lasers! This exciting development signifies significant progress on one of science’s most hallowed goals: creating clean and nearly limitless power from atomic reactions similar those that occur naturally within our sun.
“Fusion has the potential to provide a near-limitless, safe, clean, source of carbon-free baseload energy,”
Dr. Robbie Scott, of the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Central Laser Facility (CLF) Plasma Physics Group Said.
“The experiment demonstrates unambiguously that the physics of Laser Fusion works. In order to transform NIF’s result into power production a lot of work remains, but this is a key step along the path,”
he added.
Despite promising results, the technology to sustainably source energy from air remains distant. In its current state, it could only generate enough power for a cup of tea – far off what would be necessary to become an essential part of our global energy supply.
Prof Justin Wark emphasized the sheer speed fusion power plants must be able to achieve when producing energy, revealing that a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could manage it on an average day basis – but for sustainable operations, this needs to occur 10 times every second.
The latest news from the lab is that, their latest results surpass last year’s record of 70% of laser energy being released as nuclear energy, if proven true. This is sure to be celebrated by scientists around the world!
You can also watch the video of this Major scientific breakthrough from The Guardian.
