Could nuclear fusion lead to ‘net zero’ emissions?

Last week I spoke about the second of four green signs of hope for 2023 – how the world had worked together to solve the problem of the hole in the ozone layer in our atmosphere.

“This week I want to talk about nuclear fusion and how UN scientists have reached a major milestone in their attempt to perfect a process that could deliver almost limitless supplies of clean energy and tackle climate change,” said Midlands green expert Ron Fox.

Nuclear fusion is the process which gives the sun its energy and scientists from more than 50 countries have been trying to recreate this since the 1960s.

In nuclear fusion, pairs of tiny particles or atoms are heated and forced together to make one heavier one and the reaction produces massive amounts of energy which can be captured.

It is the opposite to nuclear fission, in which heavy atoms are split apart. At the moment nuclear power stations use nuclear fission to generate electricity.

Ron said nuclear fission produces radioactive waste, which can be dangerous and must be stored safely – potentially for hundreds of years. Whereas the waste produced by nuclear fusion is less radioactive and decays much more quickly.

Also, nuclear fusion is safe and doesn’t use fossil fuels like oil or gas or generate greenhouse gases, which trap the sun’s heat and are responsible for climate change.

And unlike solar or wind energy, it is not dependent on beneficial weather conditions.

It uses two relatively abundant materials found on earth, lithium and hydrogen, which can be extracted cheaply from seawater.

During the nuclear fusion process two atoms of a light element, such as hydrogen, are heated they combine to form a single heavier element such as helium. This nuclear reaction produces a massive amount of energy which can be captured.

But getting two identical elements to combine is very difficult because as they have the same positive charge, they naturally repel each other. So, a lot of energy is needed to overcome this resistance.

Scientists have used various different techniques to attempt to recreate these conditions, but it has proved difficult to maintain the high temperature and pressure needed for long enough.

In the sun, this happens naturally thanks to extremely high temperatures of around ten million degrees Celsius, and significant pressure is available.

However, for the first time the USA’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) has recently announced a scientific breakthrough when it used a 192-beam laser to turn a tiny amount of hydrogen into enough energy to power about 15-20 kettles.

Despite this promising breakthrough Ron said large-scale nuclear fusion was still many years away. He said that scientists would have to focus on reproducing fusion more quickly and cheaply before it could be used to power homes or businesses.

“But if that was successful nuclear fusion could help countries to meet their targets to produce “net zero” emissions by 2050,” concluded Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park.

If you want any advice on green energy, contact Ron on 0845 474 6641.