The Future Should Be Nuclear.

Climate change. These two words immediately cause eyes to gloss over. Well, here is the truth: Climate change is not just a headline in newspapers; it is happening right now and it is happening fast. Because of the energy sources we are using right now, like fossil fuels, we are releasing chemicals (greenhouse gasses) that get trapped into the atmosphere because of the ozone layer, which in turn causes the global temperature to rise. The reasoning for this is technical and is essentially because the gasses are reabsorbed by the Earth and then emitted as heat. These greenhouse gasses and our calamitous actions are polluting the environment, killing species, and ultimately destroying our planet. Eventually, we will exhaust our energy sources and without energy, nothing on Earth can work. Phones, cars, factories, every aspect of our daily lives will be different and life, as we know it, will be over. To avoid this, we need something called “renewable energy”; energy sources that are abundant in nature and do not run out, contrasting to non-renewable energy sources like coal and oil. There are many propitious sources that are renewable, such as solar energy and wind turbines, however there are many semantics with them, such as not being usable in the winter or at night, and of course the cost. Nonetheless, there is an extremely promising renewable energy source, without these semantics that will allow us to continue our lives normally and is not harmful to the environment. This source? Nuclear fusion.

Nuclear fusion is the act of fusing two atoms together. This happens in the core of stars, so clearly a tremendous amount of energy is released from it. However, to actually perform nuclear fusion on Earth, we need three things: tritium, deuterium, and a nuclear reactor. Tritium and deuterium are the sources of fuel needed to power nuclear fusion and are used in pellet form. Both of these fuel elements are extremely plentiful in nature because tritium can be produced from lithium, which is widely found in the Earth’s crust and deuterium is ample and can be extracted from seawater. A nuclear reactor is where nuclear fusion occurs. It is an area in which the high temperatures and pressures for nuclear fusion can be maintained. If the energy from nuclear fusion is harnessed in the right way, a reliable, clean, and sustainable source of energy will be available throughout the world. So why haven’t we used it already?

There are two ways to perform nuclear fusion, inertial and magnetic confinement. Inertial confinement is when the tritium-deuterium fuel pellets are compressed to such a high density with ion and laser beams that a tremendous amount of force and heat is emitted from it, this being the energy we can harness. The second way is magnetic confinement. Generally for magnetic confinement, a donut shaped space is needed for the method it uses. In magnetic confinement, a large magnetic field is used to contain the charged ions and electrons from the plasma, a hot, charged state of matter where ions free from their nuclei, which generates a lot of energy. There are some reactors today that use magnetic confinement, such as the Tokamak.

However, both of these methods of nuclear fusion have their flaws. To begin, they both are relatively difficult to achieve and maintain due to the extremities in temperature and pressure that they require in order to work. Keep in mind that nuclear fusion takes place in the core of stars, so it takes a lot of effort to create and prolong those conditions in a lab on Earth. When it comes to inertial confinement, the surface which will be used for it needs to be completely smooth and further laser research needs to be conducted. This is because the lasers in inertial confinement need to hit the surface of the tritium-deuterium fuel pellet homogeneously. Shifting to magnetic confinement, the main obstacle is the confinement of the plasma. This state of matter is extremely hot and charged and magnetic fields are not always able to fully contain it, resulting in the cooling of the plasma and the termination of the process. Due to these reasons, nuclear fusion is still in the research process and is unable to be used commercially as of now.

However, even though there are obstacles, eventually, we can reap countless benefits from nuclear fusion. The main problems with most renewable energy sources are cost, intermittency, and distribution. For many renewable sources of energy, more money needs to be spent in the green version versus the harmful version. Oil is a perfect example of this. Oil is so cheap, which is why we use it, but it is so harmful to the environment. Once nuclear fusion is achieved and out of the research phase, its energy will be cheaper than the energy we use today because of the mass amounts that it will be able to produce. The second problem is intermittency. Intermittency with renewable energy sources is the fact that they will not run at certain times, such as at night or during the winter, due to technical problems. An example of this is solar power. Solar power is energy we get from the sun and the sun is obviously not always in the sky in one area. At night or on cloudy days the sun is not available, so in these instances, how would solar power work? We would need to invest in batteries, which can be expensive for the amount of batteries needed to account for all the times that the sun is not in the sky. Because of its potential for mass energy production, nuclear fusion does not have the problem of intermittency and can be used 24/7 throughout the year, without needing to spend on batteries to store energy. The final major problem is distribution. In many developing areas, such as sub-Saharan Africa, 571 million people do not have access to electricity. Abundant energy will be produced from nuclear fusion and so many people will be able to gain the factor of electricity in their lives, at low cost as well. Nuclear fusion is such an advantageous source of energy that does not face the problems that many other renewables face. It is crucial that we switch to a sustainable, green, renewable source of energy before climate change takes the final turn for the worse.

So what can be done? First of all, the United States and other powerful governments need to invest more in nuclear fusion and climate research in general. If governments begin to invest more in these fields, investments from the private sector will follow. If companies in the private sector are reimbursed by investing in nuclear fusion, it will incentivize them to do it. If influential companies and organizations begin to focus on nuclear fusion the general public will become aware of it, leading to my next point, education. Increased awareness and education on nuclear fusion technology and climate change needs to be in place. People need to understand what exactly is going on in the world and what is being done to combat it. Nuclear fusion is such a key aspect of solving climate change, however even if the US government and private sector companies want to invest in it, they need the support of the public for their willingness and capital and they will only gain this support if the public is aware of the situation and where their money is going. Examples of what can be done to educate the public are as follows: educational programs set in schools, seminars for those in the workforce, and even just increased availability of resources online. If powerful governments, organizations, and companies invest and pinpoint nuclear fusion, as well as educate the public, the goal of nuclear fusion energy and its abundance can be achieved and at a quicker rate as well.

Nuclear fusion can be the solution to climate change and if the right steps are taken, we can achieve so much. Imagine a world where running electricity is common. Where we can continue living our lives in the ways we do, charge our phones, use the lights, watch TV, by spending less on the electricity bill and without emitting carbon dioxide. A world where factories can continue mass producing whatever they make and bulk manufacturing continues to be cheap. This world can be ours and is right in front of us, all we need to do is reach out and grab it. Nuclear fusion, the key, can take us there.