Fusion is The Future of Energy Essay -- Clean Power Alternative Energy

Fusion is The Future of Energy Abstract: Fusion energy is the same energy that provides the power for that of our sun and other stars. An example of Fusion energy is when two separate hydrogen atoms combine to form one helium atom. In this process some of the mass of the hydrogen is converted into energy. This energy is very powerful and is considered inexhaustible by the scientific community. But the ability to control this energy seems to be out of our reach. The "heating, compressing, and confining of hydrogen plasmas is very challenging." (NIF, 2007) Even so, many facilities such as NIF still try to learn the secrets of Fusion. Introduction: The idea of Fusion energy came from a man who lived in the 20th century. He thought that mass could in fact, be converted into raw energy. His name was Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of his time. As the years went by, physicists came to know of two ways to convert mass into energy. The two methods are known as fission and fusion. Fission is where neutrons are induced in a cycle of fissions to create more fission and so on. Fusion energy is energy produced nuclear fusion reactions. When two atomic nuclei fuse to create a bigger and heavier nucleus, extra mass in converted into energy. This energy is very hot and heats plasma up to ten times that of the sun. The trick is to keep the energy bottled up and going, scientist‟s predictions are all over the place and we still Future of Energy 3 have no idea what to do with the heat and how to harness it. To create a power plant we would have to complete 3 objectives: equilibrium, stability and transport. The plasma has to be in a constant state of equilibrium and stability to stay hot and we have to make sure the particles a... ...he NIF project going every year. Due to the unknown time schedule and the grand costs, it seems nobody truly knows when our Earth will become fully dependent, but Fusion energy is on top of everyone‟s minds as our future. References 1.Thinkquest, (2006). Fusion: Future Energy. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from Energy Matters Web site: http://library.thinkquest.org/20331/types/fusion/advant.html 2. Heeter, Robert (2000). How Fusion Reactions Work. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from The Nuclear Physics of Fusion Web site: http://fusedweb.pppl.gov/CPEP/Chart_Pages/3.HowFusionWorks.html 3. ITER, Project (2005). The ITER Project. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from Fusion Energy Web site: http://www.iter.org/ 4. DeMeo, Anthony (2004). Fusion Energy. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from Princeton Plasma Physics Lab Web site: http://www.pppl.gov/fusion_basics/pages/fusion_energy.html