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This means we’ll need capture efficiency technology above 66% for this to be a net positive in terms of power generation.
For current fission nuclear power plants: “Nuclear power plant efficiency averages around 33%, which is comparable to other fossil fuel-based generation units. This means that 77% [sic, should be 67%] of the energy produced by a nuclear plant is lost and only 33% is converted into electricity. Some modern nuclear plants may be able to achieve 45% efficiency.”
This doesn’t mean anything, as it’s not actually overall net positive. It just makes for a nice headline. But it’s just that more energy than the late deposited into the pallet came out of it.
But more energy than to run the lasers or the entire facility? Far, far, far from it.
What if you used the sun as the source of the laser?
That’s how Supermans laser eyes work.
You can! And we do! In fact, then you can skip the whole fusion step, since the sun laser is already powered by fusion, and just collect the energy. I think that tech is called soul… Soul-Harp-N-L.
Using a fusion reactor to power a solar collector to fuel a fusion reactor.
I’d say this reactor design has best chance of reaching high efficiency vs the “Lithium Blanket”.
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US scientists have achieved net energy gain in a nuclear fusion reaction for the second time since a historic breakthrough in December last year in the quest to find a near-limitless, safe and clean source of energy
Scientists at the California-based Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory repeated the breakthrough in an experiment in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) on 30 July that produced a higher energy yield than in December, a Lawrence Livermore spokesperson said.
The approach, which gives rise to the heat and light of the sun and other stars, has been hailed as having huge potential as a sustainable, low-carbon energy source.
In December, Lawrence Livermore first achieved a net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers.
The Energy Department called it “a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power.”
Fusion energy raises the prospect of plentiful clean power: the reactions release no greenhouse gases or radioactive waste byproducts.
I thought China already accomplished this last year?
Yes but these are freedom scientists!
Is the assumption that the experiment takes place in a vacuum, including no external energy outside the energy introduced by the laser?
Yes. Not taking into account anything except the output of the laser verses the output of the reaction.
A spherical vacuum consisting of free government money.
