Science Porn

[pocaracas]

Not exactly "science porn".. .but... this thread needed some revival!

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I completely understand your pain. These knee jerk low information fusion sceptics are all idiots. We have some in our national green party (omg cancel all fusion research now and build organic solar panels!). Screw them

Fusion has the potential to provide electricity to all humanity, for the remainder of this planet's existence.
If it can work, we have the obligation to get it to work. And do it as soon as possible.
Politicians are seriously under-funding it, mostly because of pressure from the oil lobby. A few years ago, I heard a simple comparison: the budget of the next fusion research device, ITER, the one that is supposed to show once and for all that fusion can provide more energy than that which is required to get it to work, over the course of the 30 years that it's supposed to take to build and be in operation, this entire project will, at the end, cost as much as Germany spends in road works during a single year.

If Germany would not maintain or build any new roads for a single year, they could build this one device that will tell us that fusion works.
Or, if Germany would not maintain and build 1/30 (one thirtieth) of their roads for 30 years in a row, they could fund this one project over it's lifespan.

ITER, however, is an international endeavor. It brings together the EU, China, India, Russia, the US, South Korea, Japan, all of them contributing something... all of them with access to all specs... while maintaining the financial burden at a stupefying negligible rate to each country.
All the while, some politicians want to cut spending on fusion... it doesn't make sense.
The US has spent some time out of the ITER project, because (officially) they thought it was too expensive.

Oil, cars, roads... power...
I see the pieces coming together: Tesla and other EV manufacturers are working on making those EVs behave pretty much like traditional cars at a similar cost. Fusion can then provide power to the grid and hence power there EVs. A nuclear reactor under each hood is, I think, impractical - the reactor does get activated by neutrons and no one wants a radioactive engine when it comes to a car crash.

Once fusion becomes established, all oil based power generation will become a dirty thing of the past... maybe to be used on a few stand-alone devices where access to the grid is difficult and batteries would represent too much weight or not provide enough raw brute force power.

Of course, all the oil industry will collapse, and it will not do so quietly!
From the production, to the transformation, to the final distribution and consumer refueling... a lot of people will be out of a job... a lot of businesses will become obsolete. Other oil-based industries, like plastics, should also need to switch to alternative materials. This should all happen gradually, but it is inevitable.

Alternatively, we could clone some dinosaurs, bury them and wait 60 million years.