Don't be looking for commercial fusion reactors anytime soon.  Seems there's a severe shortage of tritium.

https://www.science.org/content/article/fusion-power-may-run-fuel-even-gets-started

Noel

Well, that's not good.

If fusion reactors ever become practical, which I believe they will, then we might have to just use conventional fission reactors to produce the tritium they need until the fusion reactors themselves can be used to make it.

Maybe they'll come up with another viable combination of elements to use for the fusion reaction.

In the meantime, we need a lot more fission reactors, no matter how much they cost.

Dave

On 6/24/2022 at 4:06 PM, dave2013 said:

In the meantime, we need a lot more fission reactors, no matter how much they cost.

 

For my response to that, see previous lengthy debates. 😉

Forgot to mention, re the tritium issue, I believe Laser Confinement Fusion doesn't require tritium. 

And I may be wrong, so don't quote me, but my favourite approach below doesn't either. Its a fusion piston engine. 😁

https://generalfusion.com/fusion-technology/

 

 

Edited June 26, 20223 yr by martin-w

On 6/25/2022 at 11:36 AM, martin-w said:

 

For my response to that, see previous lengthy debates. 😉

OK.  Why don't you take your message and advice to some places where energy costs have skyrocketed and where they're already rationing natural gas? 

The real question is:  why do those places need all that natural gas and petroleum in the first place?  What happened to all the clean, green energy that they've been promised for nearly 25 years?

Pie in the sky.

Dave

I have two small batteries that store about 5kWh of energy.  It will run a 6000BTU window air conditioner for at least 8 hours if I want it to.  I havent yet gotten to the solar recharge part but I have little doubt it will work.  not very pie in the sky if you ask me.

39 minutes ago, sightseer said:

not very pie in the sky if you ask me

No, it's not if every single house installs a solar power system, the batteries, inverters, and other necessary equipment.  What you're proposing is transitioning to renewable energy at a very local level and on a small scale, not eliminating fossil fuels and trying to produce enough electricity from "renewable" sources for the entire world within 10-15 years.  As evidenced lately, it just ain't working.  I actually agree that it's doable on a small scale.  Can everyone afford their own solar power system?  Also, what if you get 10 or 15 consecutive days of cloudy skies?  Maybe you live out west where it's sunny most of the time.  I'll be curious to know what you think when you install your system.

I had a work colleague who was 100% off the grid.  He installed a solar power system and a small wind turbine.  He did all the work himself as he was an electronics engineer.  His entire system could only handle 30 amps, whereas most houses in the USA have at least 100 amps of service.  His inverter failed after a few years and a new one cost him around $3,000 - that's for a small one rated at 30 amps.  My entire electric bill for a year was around $1,000, and I had 100 amp service.  His savings from being off the grid went down the drain for the next several years, and I'm not counting what his up front costs were.

I've no doubt that we can eventually get 100% of our electricity from solar plants and wind turbines.  The question is: at what cost?  "Cost" implies both literal cost as well as all the materials to make all this stuff.  How reliable will it be compared with nuclear and natural gas?  I've never had a natural gas outage, and my local nuclear plant has never failed.

I should have qualified my assessment: switching to 100% renewable energy in 10-15 years is pie in the sky.  We'll get there one day.

Dave

26 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

His entire system could only handle 30 amps, whereas most houses in the USA have at least 100 amps of service.  His inverter failed after a few years and a new one cost him around $3,000 - that's for a small one rated at 30 amps

120V x 30 Amps is 3600Watts.  My 24V inverter is 3000Watts and cost less than $500.  I have no intention of pushing it past 1600Watts at any one time and if and when it fails, it shouldn't be too difficult to replace.  I also have a very inexpensive 12V inverter.

The batteries were the most expensive and I can recharge them via either solar or standard battery charger or both at the same time if I wish.  The solar panels should last decades -- time will tell.  But even in cloudy conditions the panels output some power.  

I bought the ingredients for a power supply to have during an extended power failure and I feel confident that I've done the right thing.  

14 hours ago, dave2013 said:

OK.  Why don't you take your message and advice to some places where energy costs have skyrocketed and where they're already rationing natural gas? 

 

Dave... the same happened in the Lilium thread I started. It was supposed to be about the Lilium, its technology, first flight etc. You diverted it to inadequate batteries mining, solar power and wind power.

The same has now happened in this thread, it was about fusion and the tritium issue and you have diverted it to fission is awesome, natural gas, petroleum, clean green energy promises you say haven't materialised and then labelled it, as you have in previous locked topics,  "pie in the sky".

Now you are arguing about solar power with Sightseer.

This is why I said... "For my response to that, see previous lengthy debates"

All this has been done before numerous times, a number of previous threads regarding this have been locked due to arguments flaring up. Now its groundhog day and all of the same stuff is going to be thrashed out again. 

We know your opinion on this stuff, you know mine, we know the opinions of others who have commented in the past too. I feel that if you do it all gain then once again another thread will be locked.

For the reasons above, if anyone wants to know my opinion, they should use the search facility and look for the locked threads. Typing it all again like I have numerous times will drive me nuts. 

I'm not trying to irritate you, just saying that maybe its a good idea if we stick to fusion and/or the tritium issue. 

 

 

Edited June 27, 20223 yr by martin-w

On 6/27/2022 at 4:46 AM, martin-w said:

You diverted it to inadequate batteries mining, solar power and wind power.

Because it is a directly related issue.  I'm all for electric planes and cars, but it's important to also point out their disadvantages as well.

I won't engage in another debate about you-know-what, but as far as I know without a clear policy, there is no prohibition against discussing renewable energy.

Anyway, I'll leave you with this:

https://www.thelocal.it/20220225/italy-may-reopen-coal-plants-amid-concerns-about-energy-supply-pm-says/

https://www.thelocal.fr/20220628/france-may-restart-coal-fired-power-station-to-avoid-energy-shortage-this-winter/

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/germany-to-restart-coal-plants-11655721425

I promise I'll leave it there, but it's important to be informed.

Dave

You bring up a valid point Dave.

Without renewables available we have to revert to non-renewables.

I'm told where I live it will be a long time before we get electric cars.  We have no charging stations within 200 miles.  We might get one next year sometime.  Also, none of the auto dealers here have electric cars in stock.  So we buy gasoline.

If renewables or cleaner energy is in short supply or are not available what else can you do?  

Now solar power is available in my area.  But I am not going to switch.  I'll be commercial power and natural gas for whatever is left of my life.  I'm not about to sacrifice my limited income on buying solar for my house because some renewable advocate tells me to.

Noel

Edited June 29, 20223 yr by birdguy

3 hours ago, birdguy said:

Without renewables available we have to revert to non-renewables.

Yes, but the renewables are already there and available, it's just not nearly enough. 

So, what you do is outsource fossil fuel production to other countries and then import those fossil fuels from those countries, all while claiming how clean and green you are. The problem arises when you can't import those awful fossil fuels any more, but you have dismantled your own capacity.  Oops.

Dave

14 hours ago, dave2013 said:

Because it is a directly related issue.  I'm all for electric planes and cars, but it's important to also point out their disadvantages as well.

I won't engage in another debate about you-know-what,

 

You've pointed out what you perceive as disadvantages many times before Dave and been inaccurate many timed before too. Not sure why it has to be done again and no doubt ignoring all counter arguments again. 

If you mean climate change, that's not the point I made. If you start debating inadequate batteries, mining, solar power and wind power and fission instead of fusion that the topic was about and repeating claims, opinions, you have made before that we are already aware of, that have been countered before, an argument will likely ensue and the topic locked as has happened before. 

 

Why not just stick to debating fusion and the tritium shortage instead of going off on a tangent to what you perceive as "related" topics.