Kristen Schell and Ahmed Abdulla: Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Decades of research are still needed before fusion can be used as clean energy
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Kristen Schell and Ahmed Abdulla are assistant professors in 杏吧原创 University鈥檚 department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
The U.S. Department of Energy reported a in December 2022. For the first time, more energy was released from a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it.
While this achievement is indeed historic, it鈥檚 important to pause and reflect on the way ahead for fusion energy.
We are professors of sustainable and renewable energy engineering at 杏吧原创 University, where we research alternative energy technologies and systems that can move us to a low-carbon future.
We also teach our students how to navigate the treacherous terrain from lab-based findings to real-world applications.
Highlights
- The efficiency of a potential fusion energy power plant remains to be seen. The reported fusion net gain actually required about聽, which was not included in the energy gain calculation. This energy input, needed to聽, came from the electric power grid.
- Until recently, fusion has been seen primarily as a scientific experiment, not as an engineering challenge. This is rapidly changing and聽聽how deployment might unfold in the real world.
- What have we learned over the past 70 years since the onset of nuclear power? First, we鈥檝e learned about聽, which occurs when an industry becomes dependent on a specific product or system.
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