US scientists have carried out the first ever nuclear fusion experiment to achieve a net energy gain, but exactly how significant is it? And is it yet sufficient to solve humanity's problem of finding a new source of energy to replace fossil fuels? Sky's science editor explains.
Scientists have been pursuing the dream of producing energy from nuclear fusion for more than 70 years.
The fusion event they created lasted about 100 trillionths of a second and produced enough energy to boil about seven kettles. A whopping amount of power given the timescales - but hardly the energy source of the future. There are several state-funded fusion projects, one enormous international collaboration called ITER in France, and more than 30 small-scale commercial fusion ventures.But it's also important to say none of them are very close yet. The most common approach: using magnets to confine the charged fusion plasma in a spherical or doughnut-shaped reactor has the clearest route to success.
"And that's going to get us the fusion as quickly as possible, which is what everyone needs," he says.Harnessing the power of the sun Although smaller start-ups may have the latest technology, he argues, they simply don't have the financial support to solve the big problems of physics and engineering that fusion constantly throws up.
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