3y, 41w
20 replies
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👉 Léo
Oh cool! But I actually disagree. We will eventually figure out fusion (hopefully within the next decade or so) but it is not necessary for the future of human civilization. The sun will be emiting plenty of energy for at least the next million of years. Fusion will become more important when we start getting ready to leave the solar system. So, what's your opinion?
3y, 41w
12 replies
☕ David Antoine
For the next 5+ billion ys actually but oceans will start to boil in about 1 to 1.5 billion ys. So... Fusion surely will be used for fast travel. Optimized it can probably get us to 5 to 10% the speed of light. And for the solar, to an extent it can help us. Problem is moving energy from prod site to cities. If long distances you should use continuous current for transport so to avoid Joule loss effect (Canada does that)... 480 char are not enough for this subject. ;)
3y, 41w
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📉 Bill
Valid points. I think with the run rate of our global economy and our (current?) dependence on constant expansion in both population and consumption, fusion is the only way to sustainably power that over the next 20+ years. I'm not convinced we can meet our energy/environmental needs with just solar/renewables. Maybe increased interest in fission can fill the gap.
3y, 41w
9 replies
👉 Léo
I agree with you that the perceived necessity for constat growth is really unhealthy for society, and creates all sorts of perverse incentives. Tell me more about your assumptions. Are you assuming that people will realize the extent of climate damage and reduce usage of fossil fuels?
3y, 41w
7 replies
☕ David Antoine
Fusion if they find a way to solve disruptions n in Tokamaks. Even then, those are constrained by their size. The more big. The more stable (i.e. ITER), thus making them to costly and long to build to be commercially viable. A lot of private teams are exploring other paths to fusion with innovative designs. There is also antimatter. But it is much more long term and unfortunately not very promoted for energy research or space travel (even better than fusion for that).
3y, 41w
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