General Fusion Power Discussion

[martinbayer]

While that is a small part of it, there's no small amount of "we can't get food from where it's being grown to where it's needed before it rots" happening.

Of course, there was also the unintended consequences. [Location] suffers famine, US sends massive supplies of grain FOR FREE. Local farmers go out of business because no-one will buy local grain when they can get US famine relief for free. Famine continues because there are now NO FARMERS AT ALL.

Agree, sustainability and logistics are top issues.

 

[martinbayer]

Humans are a man's best fiend...

 

[spikedpsycho]

I might be behind this but how fusion reactor can convert those potentially massive amount of energy it produces into something we can work with like electricity ?. Is it using yet another rankine cycle (steam turbine etc) or can we directly "farm" electricity from the reactor ?

There several ways .
For one it's plasma, which means loose electrons in its matrix. That's definition of plasma, supeheated gas with dissolution of electrons in transition from energy state. Since most fusion attempts use Magnetic fields to contain it any counterbalance of plasma reaction can induce current in a conducting medium. Get it to spin its behaves as its own dynamo.

Fusion reactions produce huge amounts X-rays and disassociated ions. In focus fusion the ion beam is merely tube where beam is permitted controlled escape, as it travels thru coil it yields electric current.

Another proposed design harness bursts Xray or high energy gamma rays in photoelectric device. Similar to a solar panel, instead photons from visible light spectrum it reacts to high energy photons but unleashes the same effect. In same way onion has layers, dozens or hundreds of layers of photo sensitive conductive plates shaped into reactor absorb nascent high energy photons induce electron flow the same way solar panel does.

Lastly indirect via classic mechanics of Steam. Series conductive tubes carrying water or fluid near but do not touch the plasma thus heat from the reaction produces steam or superheated fluid.