Home Technology How Nuclear Fusion Is Bringing In a New Era of Energy
Technology By Joe Burgett -

How Nuclear Fusion Is Bringing In a New Era of Energy
[Image via Space.com]

Interstellar Space Exploration

While a lot of this is still at the theoretical stage, nuclear fusion has the ability to change space travel forever. One way of doing this will be in the propulsion area, likely through something like an antimatter-fusion hybrid drive. This will allow for deep space travel that could even allow us to reach higher rates of speed. We know that Matter-Antimatter reactions are 1,000 times more powerful than any nuclear fission produced in nuclear power plants. They are also 300 times more powerful than nuclear fusion energy. They could take us further will less fuel, but nuclear fusion works on pure energy. Therefore, having a hybrid engine will allow for the power we need and a consistent energy source too. Many also believe nuclear fusion will be utilized heavily in the theoretical hyperdrive engine too.

How Nuclear Fusion Is Bringing In a New Era of Energy
[Image via Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com]

Deep Space Opportunities

It would be weird if we told you that space travel could run just on solar energy or something like that. While we are working with things that can use this, space travel needs a more reliable energy source. Nuclear fusion gives that to us. And if properly made for a ship, it could power any and everything on the ship for hundreds to thousands of Earth years. In fact, the energy should last longer than the ship itself. It is quite likely the engines will run off a separate power source while the rest of the ship works off of another. Things like controlling gravity on a ship or anything else we’d want to do will require a ton of energy. Therefore, having nuclear fusion and using it in a power source like this, will be critical for humans.

How Nuclear Fusion Is Bringing In a New Era of Energy
[Image via National Geographic Society]

It’ll Potentially Save Us From Extinction

While we already mentioned the likelihood of nuclear treaties, there is much more that nuclear fusion can do. It can help us with space exploration that could save our species and make us an interstellar one for the first time. Yet beyond this, we’re going to be helping our planet by fixing the environment we destroyed. By stopping the use of fossil fuels, we can start to fix a glaring weakness. However, nuclear fusion might also be useful in helping us clean up the environment much faster than it would clean itself. Nuclear fusion offers us the ability to advance as a society, assists in the medical field, and will give us a proven energy source. Humanity will benefit from all of this so much that it’ll surely be how we avoid potential extinction as a species.

 

Where Do We Find This Stuff? Here Are Our Sources:

United Nations

European Union

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF)

International Energy Forum

International Atomic Energy Agency

National Institutes of Health

National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)

UK Atomic Energy Authority

Harvard University

Massachusetts Insititute of Technology (MIT)

University of Oregon

Stanford University

University of California – Berkeley

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