ITER

Energy in 2019: Fusion, Fission and More

2 CommentsScience,

Mentatul Monthly Focus
March 2019 Edition
– Energy –

Fusion is the holy grail of energy generation. It’s clean and the necessary fuel, hydrogen, is literally everywhere. Unfortunately, replicating the Sun’s mastery of fusion isn’t exactly a piece of cake.

1. The largest investment our species has banked on fusion is using a technology called tokamak. Unfortunately, the experiment called ITER is not doing very well.

2. Can we get lucky with the other type of fusion reactor, the stellarator? There’s good news about Wendelstein 7-X.

3. How can supercomputing help us?

4. Is clean(er) fission energy possible? Is Thorium worth it?

5. Renewable energy trends for 2019.

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Solar Power

Scratching the Surface of Solar Power

Futurology, ,

Among all the different ways we currently can produce electricity, harnessing the power of the sun is the cleanest. The efficiency of solar panels has increased during the past decade, following solid research investments in renewable energy sources. Even though the installation of solar panels can take up vast amounts of space, this can be done in areas where there is not so much life to disturb, such as deserts.

Did you know that by covering less than 2% of the Great Saharan Desert with solar panels we can meet the energy consumptions needs of the entire planet?

But the world’s energy needs will continue to increase. In the same time, we’re witnessing worsening global catastrophes due to global warming, a situation we’ve brought upon ourselves. We need to think big. Thanks to advances in mass manufacturing, we can think big. And that’s exactly what I invite you to do.

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