Laser powered fusion test plant opened May 2009 in California. Arnold Schwarzenegger was there. 10 storey building, 15 years to design and build.
World’s most powerful laser creates 192 beams of light to compress and heat a 2mm pellet of frozen hydrogen that costs $40,000 to make. Heats to 100,000,000 degrees centigrade, as hot as centre of the Sun or a star.
Net energy release – that is a first in fusion research. Will take a year to get to that point, and is to be for research until 2040.
Great news as fusion is the only thing that can satisfy the world’s future energy needs, as solar and wind require too much land for deployment and are not constant supplies. Also with world population doubling in 20-30 years, a big power source is needed.
See our page on solar pv
See also the Guardian Environment page
