Fusion?

[AFTT47]

We already HAVE a fully functional fusion reactor.



Boru

That argument REALLY has to stop because it's fucking stupid.

Of course, just about everyone following this is well aware that the sun is a gigantic, natural fusion reactor. But harnessing its energy (at least from Earth's surface) is not terribly efficient or cheap. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE solar energy. There's nothing better than energy we can get for nothing - but is it really? We have to manufacture the systems and deploy it on a substantial amount of land. Then we have to distribute it across long distances. It's doable and I'm all for it but STOP pretending it is in the same category as massive fusion power plants running on sea water. That's ridiculous. The former would be (and is) awesome progress we should all applaud but the latter is an absolute game-changer. Fusion power plants, generating more power than they consume, feeding off deuterium from sea water would absolutely revolutionize the world.

Please don't make it an either/or thing. Renewable energy from solar and wind is great and we should absolutely pursue that. But if we can succeed, artificial nuclear fusion is just fucking awesome and a true paradigm changer. Let's pursue both.