Inexhaustible Energy Source Research Articles

Energy for Future Centuries: Will Fusion be an Inexhaustible, Safe and Clean Energy Source?

The current power consumption in different parts of the world and an estimate of the future energy needs of the world are given. The present energy supplies and prospects, the possible consequences of a continued massive fossil fuel consumption, and the potential of non-fossil candidates for long-term energy production are outlined. An introduction to possible fusion processes in future fusion reactors is given. The inexhaustibility, safety, environmental and economic aspects of magnetic fusion energy are discussed.

Energy for Future Centuries: Will Fusion be an Inexhaustible, Safe and Clean Energy Source?

The current power consumption in different parts of the world and an estimate of the future energy needs of the world are given. The present energy supplies and prospects, the possible consequences of a continued massive fossil fuel consumption, and the potential of non-fossil candidates for long-term energy production are outlined. An introduction to possible fusion processes in future fusion reactors is given. The inexhaustibility, safety, environmental and economic aspects of magnetic fusion energy are discussed.

Gas Hydrates of Siberia

Abstract: Natural gas hydrates were first observed on 21 July 1961 (the discovery was officially registered on 24 December 1969).1 It soon became clear that these compounds are not just chemical curiosities, or a nuisance for gas transportation in pipe lines, but rather that they are related significant natural phenomena. It is possible that in the past natural gas hydrates have manifested themselves in marine and land incidents. In future gas hydrates may offer an inexhaustible source of energy and chemical raw material. However, if not accessed with sufficient knowledge, gas hydrates may be destabilized to create many local problems and possibly global problems as well. In the USSR and more recently in Russia, a number of groups are traditionally involved in investigation of different aspects of gas hydrates problems. These groups have made significant contributions to present knowledge about the nature and properties of the gas hydrates. The Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences recently started an interdisciplinary program to comprehensively investigate all major aspects of gas hydrates, with special emphasis on natural gas hydrates and gas hydrates deposits in Siberia and its adjacent regions. The program consists of three components: (1) Geology of gas hydrates in the cryolito‐zone of Siberia and in the bottom deposits of the Arctic and East seas, and of Lake Baikal. (2) Physicochemical study of hydrates of different gases. (3) Ecological monitoring. In this paper we offer a short summary of the main results of these three components of the program. We emphasize the second component, since it is close to the scientific interests of the author.

Can Fusion Do Better Than Boil Water for Electricity?

For several decades, the international fusion community has had a goal of using a high quality fusion plasma for central station electrical power generation. Continued progress has been made toward the ultimate goal of high quality fusion plasmas with good confinement, mainly in tokamak experimental reactors. However, the commitment to begin construction of an engineering test reactor has not been made. One of the underlying reasons for delaying this large commitment is the lack of favorable economic projections for a fusion-generated cost of electricity1.Even though the cost of fusion fuel is very inexpensive, the plant capital cost is very expensive, which significantly increases the cost of electricity. The only new electric generating plants currently being purchased in the U.S. are gas turbine units, because they are relatively inexpensive, can be brought on line quickly, and are fueled with low-cost, abundant natural gas. Existing coal and fossil plants are being used to the maximum extent possible. New, capital-intensive, electric-generating plants are not being considered for the near future, even though there is a growing awareness of the resource depletion and environmental impact of using hydrocarbon fuels.It is time to step back and reconsider all the products fusion can provide as an inexhaustible energy source. Additional products, other than generation of electrical power, may have more benefits and fewer risks, especially in the near term.A complete set of fusion products was investigated to examine common categories of applications and markets served by these products. An evaluation methodology was developed to assess which applications might be attractive in terms of market potential, environmental considerations, economic impact, risk, and public perception. This methodology was used to assess the proposed applications. The results indicated that several applications might be promising products for the fusion energy source.

Reflections on the past and future of fusion and plasma physics research

Research in basic plasma physics and in controlled thermonuclear fusion are briefly compared. The development of fusion from the 1958 Geneva conference to present machines is sketched and intervening factors are analysed together with the interplay between smaller and larger thermonuclear machines. The importance of close ties between universities and fusion laboratories is underlined and the need for regrouping some of the latter, as machine size increases, is examined. The daunting size of the energy needs of mankind around 2050 as compared with supply and the threats of global warming demonstrate the crucial importance of constructing ITER, the international experimental reactor, very soon now that the necessary physical data have been obtained. It is our deep moral obligation to convince the public at large of the enormous promise and urgency of controlled thermonuclear fusion as a safe, environmentally friendly and inexhaustible energy source.

Will Fusion be an Inexhaustible, Safe and Clean Energy Source?

The current power consumption in different parts of the world and an estimate of the future energy needs of the world are given. The present energy supplies and prospects, the possible consequences of a continued massive fossil fuel consumption, and the potential of non-fossil candidates for long-term energy production are outlined. An introduction to possible fusion processes in future fusion reactors is given. The inexhaustibility, safety, environmental and economic aspects of magnetic fusion energy are discussed.

社会制度と原子力（その２）

This is an invited paper to commemorate fifty years after the War. Twenty years have passed since, at a meeting of the AAAS in Philadelphia, I referred to nuclear energy as a “Faustian Bargain.” (1) To quote from that speech: “We nuclear people have made a Faustian Bargain with society. On the one hand we offer-in the catalytic nuclear burner (i.e., the breeder)-an inexhaustible source of energy. Even in the short range, when we use ordinary reactors, we offer energy that is cheaper than energy from fossil fuel. Moreover this source of energy when properly handled is almost non-polluting. Whereas fossil fuel burners emit oxides of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur…there is no intrinsic reason why nuclear systems must emit any pollutant except heat and traces of radioactivity. “But the price that we demand of society for this magical source is both a vigilance and a longevity of our social institutions that we are quite unaccustomed to.” Since I wrote these words, the first nuclear era has largely run its cours...

Social Institutions and Nuclear Energy-II

This is an invited paper to commemorate fifty years after the War. Twenty years have passed since, at a meeting of the AAAS in Philadelphia, I referred to nuclear energy as a “Faustian Bargain.” (1) To quote from that speech: “We nuclear people have made a Faustian Bargain with society. On the one hand we offer-in the catalytic nuclear burner (i.e., the breeder)-an inexhaustible source of energy. Even in the short range, when we use ordinary reactors, we offer energy that is cheaper than energy from fossil fuel. Moreover this source of energy when properly handled is almost non-polluting. Whereas fossil fuel burners emit oxides of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur…there is no intrinsic reason why nuclear systems must emit any pollutant except heat and traces of radioactivity. “But the price that we demand of society for this magical source is both a vigilance and a longevity of our social institutions that we are quite unaccustomed to.” Since I wrote these words, the first nuclear era has largely run its cours...

Self-consistent nuclear energy systems

A concept of self-consistent nuclear energy system (SCNES) has been proposed as an ultimate goal of the nuclear energy system in the coming centuries. SCNES should realize a stable and unlimited energy supply without endangering the human race and the global environment. It is defined as a system that realizes at least the following four objectives simultaneously: 1. a) Energy generation — attain high efficiency in the utilization of fission energy, 2. b) Fuel production — secure inexhaustible energy source: breeding of fissile material with the breeding ratio greater than one and complete burning of tansuranium through recycling, 3. c) Burning of radionuclides — zero release of radionuclides from the system: complete burning of transuranium and elimination of radioactive fission products by neutron capture reactions through recycling, 4. d) System safety — achieve system safety both for the public and experts: eliminate criticality-related safety issues by using natural laws and simple logic. This paper describes the concept of SCNES and discusses the feasibility of the system. Both “neutron balance” and “energy balance” of the system are introduced as the necessary conditions to be satisfied at least by SCNES. Evaluations made so far indicate that both the neutron balance and the energy balance can be realized by fast reactors but not by thermal reactors. Concerning the system safety, two safety concepts: “self controllability” and “self-term inability” are introduced to eliminate the criticality-related safety issues in fast reactors.

International perspectives on inertial fusion

Recent progresses of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) give perspectives and confidence in ICF as a feasible approach to fusion energy development. Noting that fusion has the potential for a safe, environmentally attractive and inexhaustible source of energy, the world-wide efforts on fusion energy developments must be accelerated and enlarged both on ICF and MCF (Magnetically Confined Fusion), because of the essentially different key issues on physics and technologies of both approaches. Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) development is based on the wide range of advanced technologies such as drivers, fuel pellet, reactor chamber, diagnostics and code simulation which can be developed separately and assembled to form a system. Collaborative program for research and development can work efficiently.

Cartographie successive des entreprises métallurgiques dans les Pyrénées nord-catalanes ; support préliminaire à l'étude éco-historique des forêts charbonnées

The historic approach of the mountain environment, and this of the dynamic evolution of theforest settlements, which are characterized by the charcoal metallurgy, is included in a combined research project. The successive cartography of the geographic implantation of the iron and steel industry, constitutes a preliminary source document necessary for the study of paleosettlements in the Catalan Pyrénées. The forest, long considered as an inexhaustible energy source, has been in the heart of the protoindustrial economy. Victim of the "charcoal-burners axe", it still shows the scars of a centuries old exploitation, the marks of which are to befound everywhere in the landscape. Through this study, the spreading of the iron and steel industry, arises quite clearly, both in space and in time, and its repercussions of the environement also appear. It shows a coherent image of the " iron-landscapes ", integral part of the Catalan patrimony.

Commercial objectives, technology transfer, and systems analysis for fusion power development

Fusion is an essentially inexhaustible source of energy that has the potential for economically attractive commercial applications with excellent safety and environmental characteristics. The primary focus for the fusion-energy development program is the generation of centralstation electricity. Fusion has the potential, however, for many other applications. The fact that a large fraction of the energy released in a DT fusion reaction is carried by high-energy neutrons suggests potentially unique applications. These include breeding of fissile fuels, production of hydrogen and other chemical products, transmutation or “burning” of various nuclear or chemical wastes, radiation processing of materials, production of radioisotopes, food preservation, medical diagnosis and medical treatment, and space power and space propulsion. In addition, fusion R&D will lead to new products and new markets. Each fusion application must meet certain standards of economic and safety and environmental attractiveness. For this reason, economics on the one hand, and safety and environment and licensing on the other hand, are the two primary criteria for setting long-range commercial fusion objectives. A major function of systems analysis is to evaluate the potential of fusion against these objectives and to help guide the fusion R&D program toward practical applications. The transfer of fusion technology and skills from the national laboratories and universities to industry is the key to achieving the long-range objective of commercial fusion applications.

Illusion of the public philosophy related to a new energy supply

The public philosophy is examined in respect to beliefs, alleged here to be irrational, concerning the lastingness of coal, acid rain, alternatives to energy sources which cause environmental damage, the dangers of hydrogen, a dependence upon a supposed ‘government energy overseer’ and the individual's powerlessness to affect energy progress. Energy scientists are alleged to believe that a nuclear base to the energy supply can avoid plutonium; that fusion would lack environmental hazards, and that ‘energy costs are small’ so that, for instance, doubling them will not greatly affect the economy. Such thinking is short term: it lacks an ecological component; suffers from inertia, and from projecting the position of the seller, never that of the buyer. Barriers to a change to inexhaustible energy sources are socio-political, and economic. A positive step is suggested for remedying this situation.

Simulation studies on the steady-state performance of a dryer operating on solar energy and flash steam

This paper presents the steady-stage characteristics of a continuous dryer operating on a hybrid energy system of solar energy and flash steam. Because of its unique feature of combining an inexhaustible renewable energy source and exhaust energy from high-pressure condensates by way of flash steam, the “SOLEX” system has potential for the continuous use of solar industrial process heat systems without heat storage, as well as energy conservation. Based on a mathematical model incorporating all the subsystem descriptions over a wide parameter space, a computer simulation was carried out to obtain the performance characteristics. An economic analysis of the viability of the system indicates that the unit cost of the collector is an important parameter in determining the cost effectiveness. An optimum area of solar collector exists depending on the relative cost of steam and solar collectors

The international energy agency cooperative programs on hydrogen: Past achievements and future potential

Work under the Hydrogen Agreement of the International Energy Agency was started in 1977. A cooperative research and development program has evolved around the production of hydrogen by thermochemical, electrolytic and photochemical methods. There has recently been added a new subject area relating to storage, energy conversion and safety. The first five years of the IEA program on hydrogen have seen considerable progress made towards the common goal of developing cost-effective, high-efficiency water-splitting technologies for use with renewable or inexhaustible energy sources. The past achievements and present programs are described. The current perception of the potential of hydrogen as an energy carrier is examined to permit a critical appraisal of the relevance of the content and scope of the cooperative program. Possible new research and development activities are discussed along with other factors which impact upon the adoption and/or viability of hydrogen energy technologies. The desirability of continuing and expanding international cooperative activities is considered as well as the directions of such activities and the obstacles to them.

Synthetic fuels and fusion

The decreasing availability of fossil fuels emphasizes the need to develop systems which will produce synthetic fuel to substitute for and supplement the natural supply. An important first step in the synthesis of liquid and gaseous fuels is the production of hydrogen. Thermonuclear fusion offers an inexhaustible source of energy for the production of hydrogen from water. Depending on design, electric generation efficiencies of ∼40–60% and hydrogen production efficiencies by high temperature electrolysis of ∼50–70% are projected for fusion reactors using high temperature blankets. Fusion/coal symbiotic systems appear economically promising for the first generation of commercial fusion synfuels plants. Coal production requirements and the environmental effects of large-scale coal usage would be greatly reduced by a fusion/coal system. In the long-term, there could be a gradual transition to an inexhaustible energy system based solely on fusion.

Hydrogen as an activating fuel for a tidal power plant

Ocean tides, as an environmentally clean and inexhaustible natural source of energy, can be used as one alternative for replacing fossil fuels. But because the tides are dependent on the moon phases, which do not always coincide with the time of human activity, tidal projects usually require a special system for the accumulation of energy for off-peak periods. The production of hydrogen by electrolysis can be considered one such system. This paper outlines the method by which hydrogen produced during off-peak tidal power plant operation can be used as an activating fuel to furnish the same plant during the peak-load demands. With our approach (see [1]) the energy of the tide is converted into the energy of compressed air by means of specialized chambers which are put on the ocean bed. Ocean water from the dammed region passes through the chamber where it works as a natural piston compressing air in the upper part of the closure. For the peak periods the compressed air can be heated by combustion of the stored hydrogen, and expanded through high-speed gas turbine generators. For the off-peak periods, the energy of non-heated compressed air is used for the production of the hydrogen fuel. In this case the total electric output of the power plant would be decreased somewhat because the losses of the energy would be taken for the production of the hydrogen fuel.

Is nuclear energy necessary?

Fission energy is a scientific fluke: there is no theoretical reason why the number of neutrons emitted per fission must be sufficient to maintain a chain reaction. One cannot therefore argue that mankind was ordained to perish had fission not been discovered in 1938. Nevertheless, before the potential of fission was fully appreciated, the long-term outlook for man's energy was pessimistic. Most pessimistic was Sir 'Charles Darwin's The Next Million Years, published in 1953,1 in which he predicted a brutish, Malthusian future unless man developed an inexhaustible energy source other than the sun. Sir Charles's candidate for such a source was controlled fusion. The fission community (though not Sir Charles) very early recognized that in the breeder reactor we had an inexhaustible energy source; moreover, one that we knew to be technologically as well as scientifically feasible (which cannot be said of fusion); and which probably could provide electricity at a cost that is considerably lower than electricity can be supplied by direct use of the sun. It is therefore a profound shock to the fission community that, at least in the West, nuclear fission is often regarded at best as an energy source of last resort, at worst as an abominiation that must be extirpated.

On the potential of solar energy conversion into hydrogen and/or other fuels

Solar energy, when used together with water for the production of hydrogen, forms an inexhaustible source of transportable primary energy. Hydrogen is also a potential means of storing solar energy. In this paper the thermodynamic and energetic conditions for the splitting of water are established. The different water decomposition techniques are discussed. Electrolysis. Electrolysis is a proven and convenient way of producing hydrogen. If the very high temperature electrolysis (80–1000°C) development is successful, heat-assisted electrolysis with electric efficiencies of 100% and more looks attractive in connection with thermo-mechanical helio-electricity conversion. Thermal conversion. Highest temperature (≈ 3000°C) direct decomposition (thermolysis) is thermodynamically interesting, but is, for the time being, technologically not feasible. Use of thermochemical cycles is mainly a question of economics and of adaptation to the high temperatures, attainable with solar concentrating devices. Quantum conversion. The thermodynamic potential of light makes quantum conversion highly attractive, requiring much basic research, though. Bioconversion. Biosystems are already operating in nature but with low and lowest efficiencies. With successful R & D to increase efficiencies, bio-energy systems seem to become a convenient way of fuel production. Economics are considered when it seems reasonable to do so, otherwise educated guesses are made as to the economics of the different decomposition techniques and their implications for the possible large-scale hydrogen production by solar energy. Some considerations are made on the influence of large-scale solar power plants on the climate.

Are Environmental Regulations Attaining a Realistic Balance among Energy and Environmental Goals

The current national energy goals are to increase the use of coal and nuclear fuels, thereby decreasing the Nation’s dependence on foreign oil, and also increase conservation activities. Solar and other inexhaustible sources of energy are expected to be in widespread use by early in the 21st century. The Clear Air Act Amendments of 1977 require that air quality regulations for sulfur oxides and particulate matter become more stringent and below the level that scientific evidence indicates is necessary to protect public health and welfare. In order to achieve both environmental and energy goals concurrently, coal-fired generators could be provided with a single environmental control that would be more effective in protecting ambient air quality than multiple individual controls. An electrically driven heat pump is better than that of directly fired oil or gas units.