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Money for unproven nuclear fusion better spent on renewable energy

The EU’s eventual contribution to [nuclear fusion] construction is now expected to be around €6.6 bn……€6 billion would go a long way to helping us develop cheaper more efficient renewable energy technologies

A Christmas whimsy- and an unwanted present, environmentalresearchweb,  by Dave Elliott December 25, 2010 As a lapsed nuclear physicist, nowadays active in the renewable energy policy area, I sometimes make forays back to see how the subject in progressing…..one of the reasons why I got out of nuclear research. It seems that, while often touted as being a ‘clean’ option, fusion still has safety issues, just like fission……

The EU’s eventual contribution to [nuclear fusion] construction is now expected to be around €6.6 bn. It seems a lot of money for a very long-term project, which may (or may not) eventually lead to a technically and economically viable energy device sometime after mid century. No help then with our current energy problems……..€6 billion would go a long way to helping us develop cheaper more efficient renewable energy technologies. As would the €6bn for ITER. It may be good to try to develop novel energy options for the very long term, and to know what happened in the first few nano-seconds after the Big Bang, but personally, I’m more concerned about what will happen in the next few years as we try to grapple with climate change and energy security.
However, there is no denying that ‘big science’ can be intriguing, inspiring and even fun! So, good luck to them. But spare a thought for the hard pressed innovators trying to develop and deploy new solar, wind, wave, tidal and bioenergy systems in an ever more competitive and risk averse market environment, often with minimal state funding…………

A Christmas whimsy- and an unwanted present (environmentalresearchweb blog) – environmentalresearchweb

December 27, 2010 - Posted by | business and costs, EUROPE

1 Comment »

  1. While the amount of money spent on Fusion may be a waste it is at least an attempt to spolve the energy problem. The same amount spent on stupid windmills and Solar still would never solve the energy shortage. As a scientist surely you must know that. All these joke attampts are at the very best a stop gap until a real energy soruce can be discovered/invented. The big missing factor is a bright enough mind to come up with how to do it. Scientists today are a shadow of their forebears. There has been nothing to match the primary discoveries of old.
    I believe that the beliefs that are the fundamentsls of science is at fault. They need to go back to their basics and look again at what they believe in as the basic definitions of Space, Matter, Energy.

    I mean science has no definition for any of these fundamentals. They say Space is that in which energy acts. How childish is that? Energy is what operates in Space. Matter is what occupies Space. Give me a break. You call that scientific? It is s squirrel Cage one item defined in terms of the other.
    Until you get out of that you will never make a ship that reaches the stars let alone power this planet.

    Archie's avatar Comment by Archie | December 27, 2010 | Reply


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