From: Iain Strachan (iain.strachan.asa@ntlworld.com)
Date: Sun Jul 20 2003 - 11:34:09 EDT
> Money seems to be the main weak factor in that equation.
>
> Jay
I don't think that money is the real issue here. I recently spoke to a
physicist who works on JET (the large fusion experiment close to where I
live) and he gave the timescale as 50 years; 12.5 years to build the next
experiment (ITER) and 12.5 years to run it, during which they get the plasma
parameters right for fusion and then a similar timescale for the proposed
demonstration fusion reactor (DEMO); 12.5 years to build and 12.5 to run.
He was not of the opinion that the timescale could be speeded up by throwing
yet more money at it. These experiments are major undertakings. For
example the magnetic induction coils are so vast that they could not be
transported for long distances. Therefore before you can build your fusion
reactor you have to build an entire manufacturing plant on site.
However, we must stop the sliding goalpost and not allow things to drag on.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Iain .G.D. Strachan
There are 10 types of people in the world ...
those who understand binary and those who don't.
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Jay Willingham" <jaywillingham@cfl.rr.com>
To: "Glenn Morton" <glennmorton@entouch.net>; "ASA" <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 3:21 PM
Subject: Re: the hydrogen economy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Glenn Morton" <glennmorton@entouch.net>
> To: "Jay Willingham" <jaywillingham@cfl.rr.com>; "ASA" <asa@calvin.edu>
> Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 8:58 PM
> Subject: RE: the hydrogen economy
>
>
> >
> >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu]On
> > >Behalf Of Jay Willingham
> > >Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 5:09 PM
> > >To: Glenn Morton; ASA
> > >Subject: Re: the hydrogen economy
> > >
> > >
> > >Hydrogen strikes me as a junk science/green politician's answer.
> > >
> > >Where are we in the development of fusion as an energy source?
> >
> > Not very far. The only thing constant about fusion energy is that it is
> > always 50 years away. We really will need to change that constant.
> >
>
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