Spirit and Opportunity – Solar Powered Rovers

Apparently, solar power and nuclear power have some shortcomings in space. For instance, the solar panels used for Spirit, and Opportunity are made of gallium-arsenide. It is a niche product, with very high production cost per inch. The typical rooftop panels, which are silicon-based, are significantly cheaper.

In general solar power has been working fine on Mars with only some minor issues. On some occurrences dust storms reduced the capture sunlight by as much as 90 percent. A project known as ‘cleaning even’ referred to current that removed the dust that had accumulated on the cells.

The missions have been successful. Spirit is, however, no longer operating. But Opportunity has exceeded all expectations and operates fine after seven and half year of full functioning. Each of the rovers weights 400 pounds, and powered with lithium-ion battery, which stored the energy generated by cells. The maximum storage capacity was 140 watts. Here on earth, 140 watts are sufficient to run a monitor and a desktop computer. However, on Mars, the same amount of energy is used to power cameras, radios, other instruments as well as to propel the rover.

Curiosity – Nuclear Rover

The new Mars rover which was launched in November, 2011 had a far superior weight, being 2,000 pounds. The director of Space Nuclear System and Technologies division at the Idaho National Laboratory, Stephen G. Johnson says that this vehicle is as small as a car. The rover is equipped with laser that will be used to cut rocks, as well as other instruments that will facilitate the analysis of the materials. In other words, the energy required by this rover is far more than the Spirit and Opportunity.

An expert in Space technology from George Washington University, Dr. John M. Logsdon says that plutonium 238 is the only fuel that will be able to power the large space rover.

The machine is going to operate for two earth years which is equal to one Maritain year.

The space rover, Curiosity has nuclear-power packs that can constantly generate 110 watts. However, the system doesn’t work as typical nuclear reactors used on Earth. The uranium atoms aren’t split to make heat for the purpose of boiling water and to produce steam.

In space, the nuclear-power packs don’t use reactors. The atoms are not even split. The nuclear-power packs have plutonium 238, an isotope of 88 years, implying that the radioactive decay is extremely rapid and glows red-hot. This heat is directly changed into electricity. It is alpha particles that are released through the radioactive emission, which are practical and easy to catch.

Nevertheless, in the United States, nuclear materials are hard to find as it is getting old. The Energy Department shut the production of Savannah River Plant, found close to Aiken, S.C., in the 1980s. Since then there haven’t been any production of plutonium 238 in the US. America has been purchasing plutonium 238 from Russia ever since 1980s but today, not even Russia’s produce plutonium 238.

The National Academy of Science suggested the restarting of production of plutonium 238 in a ‘2009 report’. However, this hasn’t been initiated.

NASA has a substitute technology known as the ‘Stirling Engine System’. The system can generate five-fold the energy of each heat unit. It does therefore reduce the dependency for plutonium. Yet, there are several moving parts involved and this is why it hasn’t been adopted for space use.

According to Professor, Steven W. Squyres, of astronomy at Cornell who is also the chief scientist for Spirit and Opportunity rovers says that solar energy is cheaper and the best option to be used. Nuclear power is only used when there is no other suitable substitute.

In addition, NASA also launched Juno this year; a spaceship heading towards Jupiter powered with solar cells, due to the lack of plutonium. Jupiter is, nevertheless, not an ideal region to use solar cells as it is five times farther away from the sun than Earth thus the intensity of solar rays as 96 percent less, or only 4 percent of earth’s solar intensity.

There is a need to re-launch the production of plutonium 238, and to generate more efficient ways of using this energy.

Source: Green Blogs

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Andrea Rossi’s ability to fuse hydrogen and nickel at normal room temperature is something that most physicists say defines the very laws of physics and is thus not simply true.

The picture below shows Andrea Rossi’s machine that conducts ‘cold fusion’. If this is found to be true, the process can solve the world’s energy crisis by creating an unlimited amount of safe nuclear energy.

According to this Italian scientist, his machine fuses hydrogen and nickel at typical room temperature making it possible to generate an unlimited amount of energy. The only concern to this method of producing energy is that most scientists deny the possible. In the past, there have been several ‘cold fusion’ demonstrations that have been proven to be false – apparently no one can explain the mechanism.

According to the Patent Office from the United States Department of Energy (U.S), creating energy from nuclear fusion is not even considered possible under room temperature due to physics constraints.

At the University of Bologna, Rossi’s E-Cat Machine shows that cold fusion really is possible.

His machine consumes a minor amount of energy to provide a heater with some energy; this same heater can generate even more energy. In other words, the output of energy is higher than the intake of energy.

There are electrical resistances that produce this form of electricity. The reactor did during the demonstration produce 479Kwh of energy after some 3 to 4 hours of operation. The low-level nuclear reactor became antonymous and operated with its own energy.

This typical test conducted to its various customers was to demonstrate the possible to generate a superior amount of energy than initially consumed by the E-cat Machine.

Two Austrian physicists Friedrich Paneth & Kurt Peters did in the 1920s propose the idea of cold fusion. There have been several people who have confirmed that they have successfully achieved ‘cold fusion’ but physicists simply dismiss the possibility.

According to scientists, Rossi’s claims of successfully conducting cold fusion must be information taken directly from his lab and proper analysis is required.

Jonathan Koomey, an energy consultant says that the E-cat experiment should be considered as a hoax until other scientists are able to reproduce the same outputs.

Other people who attended the demonstration of the E-Cat machine such as CEO, Sterline Allan from the alternative energy news agency called Pure Energy System said to Fox News that the machine is self-sustained.

The experiment demonstrated by Rossi was that 470 KW of output generated by the heater make the machine self-sustained. It can work on its own without the need for additional exterior energy..

According to Rossi, the generation of pattern of triple track attoms is the key element of the cold fusion theory

General Facts: An Atom is a typical nucleues of neutrons and protns having electrons orbiting around.

Source: Dailymail.

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In most countries, solar farms and wind driven turbines are becoming common scenery. Yet, in 2008, renewable energy contributed to not more than 20% of the total requirement of globally energy – and a major contribution to this sizing to 15% was made by hydropower, a resource that is mature but has a minor for development.

There are several variables to be considered when thinking of how the renewable-energy sector will progress in the future. The nature of regulations and incentives of governments, play a major role in the blast-off, along with subsidies, carbon trading schemes and with lower costs of carbon pricing.

Incentives are, to some extent, paving the way to reduced costs through economies of scale. That is because, when more solar panels or wind turbines are manufactured, the lesser is its costs per unit. As an example, fossil fuel is challenged by the onshore windier areas of China and the US at present.

Also going parallel with developments in technology is ‘cost-cutting’, this is reducing the costs of manufacturing and construction as well as inducing increased efficiency. But it is impossible to predetermine the speed of the improvement of technology. So to say that, the technology of renewable has improved rapidly and will probably improve unthinkably in the future.

The cost of energy produced from solar panels has, throughout the years, shown a substantial decrease as a result of more efficient photovoltaic cells in the recent years. The cost is likely to go down further in the future. The growth of the demand will be the deciding factor, in determining the speed of the expansion of renewable. In addition, improvement will be beneficial to PV solar power plant allocation in higher altitudes.

Additional investment can be expected for economies open to improvement of solar, biomass, wind and other renewable. Countries with more advanced markets are much more open to this because of their wealth.

The competitiveness of renewables vs. Gas

Taking things one step further, the expansion of the usage of renewables will definitely depend on how countries will, in the future, utilize nuclear power and fossil fuels. For an example, green energy development could be slowed down due to some countries deciding to develop gas as a cost effective, clean and abundant fuel source relative to other sources. The heavy investment in projects for gas supply and the gas powered plants suck up the allocated funds for renewable energy development. But they expect that it would be a bridge to the gap between costs and expiration of fuels.

Another provided variable is a future with nuclear power. A number of countries have taken another look into their programs regarding nuclear power after the catastrophe at Fukushima, Japan in early 2011. Countries such as Germany, the leader in Europe’s development of renewable energy is currently planning of decommissioning all of its nuclear power plants by the year 2022.

It would seem good for renewable development as countries are de-motivated to invest in nuclear energy, in Europe, especially, where steps are taken to reduce the emission of carbon. It might actually work in the long term, if the countries are willing to reduce nuclear power.

But in the case of Germany, the short term prominence is just the opposite. It is a country which is in need of faster options of alternate power and just cannot wait until the installation of renewable energy projects goes online. Therefore, Germany has become more dependent on coal and to bridge the gap made by the reduction of its own nuclear power plants, it relies on the nuclear energy imported from the Czech Republic and France.

Energy security is another of the variables taken into question. Situations such as the Libyan conflict, led to the stoppage of supply of gas and oil from Libya in the first half of the year. Russia – Ukraine disputes over transit fees on key gas pipe lines to Europe were also temporarily shut down. These situations have made some regions vulnerable to external shocks of energy.

It seems that in countries that import a large amount of energy, it would be useful to invest in renewable energy projects, although costly. These policies have led to offshore wind projects in the UK that are expected to produce above 30 gig watts of fresh power within the coming two decades. Emission reductions, being the main driver of the program it is clear that the increased energy imports will reduce the amount of its own gas and oil deposits. As for the US, because of its vast gas reserves, the problem hasn’t yet reached that level.

The hard road to walk on

The variables stated above makes it harder to assess the importance of renewable resources in the future to the global energy platform. But there are a lot of opportunities for expansion. Although there is a rapid growth in the renewables sector, it has made very little difference on the overall usage of global energy. According to the IEA (international energy Agency) the increasing demand for energy has been met by mostly fossil fuels.

The World Economic Outlook, published in 2010 by the agency also stated that “globally, electricity from renewable were 19% of the total usage in 2008. This figure has changed only slightly since 2000, although the share of gas and coal has gone up by 3.6 and 2 percent respectively. The transportation sector uses oil, approximately 50 times more than the usage of biofuels. The modern renewable is used 10 times lesser than fossil fuels for heating requirements. According to the IEA, the term modern renewable defines solar, wind, hydropower, marine energy, biomass and geothermal energy.

If nations decide on taking measures on handling global warming, there could be a rapid change in the transition towards a widespread use of clean energy sources. The Agency predicts that 45% of Electricity would be of met by renewable energy by 2035. Establishing the goal to cut down global warming by 2°C would significantly contribute in the growth of renewable energy. These assumptions are made under the idea of keeping CO2 in the atmosphere to 45/100,000.

Anything can be achieved if the governments are willing to extend their support. As an example, the power stations, already running on coal can be reformed to run on biomass. But these are not times that governments are willing to spend big money on renewable. As the aftermath of the recent global economic crisis is still felt in most countries, they remain very cautious about how their capital expenditure is distributed.

The BNEF (Bloomberg New Energy Finance), a consultant for renewable power, states that during the first three months of 2011, worldwide investments on renewable energy dropped by nearly 10% compared to early 2010, at $34.5 billion. The uncertainties in policies of European countries such as Spain, the UK, Italy and France have made the BNEF reduce the levels of investment to the region. The low price of natural gases from the US also contributes to this, although some European countries, in the recent months, have converted some of their main subsidies to renewable sources.

A study doesn’t provide a response on how to handle the global warming problem, with efforts of a large-scale restriction of carbon markets to the UN and EU’s Clean Development Mechanism.

These steps with many flaws lead to the idea that there is only a small possibility to take hard action that is needed, under the implemented 450 prediction of the IEA. The development of energy markets around the world in the future could be reflected by the steps taken to reduce the emissions of CO2. Since these steps have not been taken yet, only a smaller contribution to heat and power production is forecasted to come from clean energy.

Increase of capacity

But to get a fair improvement of energy produced from renewable sources, it still needs a large boost of its current capacity, considering the rapid increase for the energy demand on a global-scale. The state of current politics, according to the IEA, it is assumed that there will not be any significant changes to the policies currently in place. It also expects the requirement of power to double by 2035. The New Policies Scenario (NPS) which is more optimistic, assumes that in the future, countries will opt to implement wider commitments on their policies and plans that have already been announced. If it would come to that, the capacity of renewable could unfold by 300% or even more.

The renewable-energy progress in developing nation’s contrasts with the progress of renewable in industrialized countries is highly associated in the energy requirements.

In 2035, it is predicted that above 33% of generated electricity in OECD countries would come from renewable. The figure was 17% in 2008. The non-OEDC countries are expected to reach a figure of only 31% by 2035, although having had a larger share of 21% in 2008.

Requirements of demand

But in this instance, one should compare these figures to the demand of power these countries require. The NPS by the IEA also forecasts that by 2035, the power requirement of OECD countries would rise by nearly 25% being 11,566 TWh (terawatt hours). The agency also forecasts a hike of 150% demand for power in non-OECD countries to 18, 763TWh by 2035.

This only shows that non-OECD countries will have to get their power from renewable sources solely if they would require an equal share of the total demand. These issues have been stressed out keenly by India and China in recent talks on global climate change.

The GWEC (Global Wind Energy Council) says that China, is already taking the initiative. They double their installed wind energy capacity annually between the years 2006 and 2009. China was seen overtaking the US in 2010 becoming the country with the largest capacity of wind power generation adding 16.5 gig watts, and reaching a total of 42.3 gig watts.

Source: Petroleum Economist

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The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) engages the public in educational site tours as an effort to calm intense nuclear fears.

Constructed at a desert located at the east of Idaho Falls, the nuclear lab is well-separated from civilization, ideal for conducting nuclear science experiments. INL is one of the earlier nuclear research laboratories being built in the U.S. and functions under the supervision of the nation’s Department of Energy.

Japan nuclear crisis in March reinforced the U.S. nation’s doubts about the safety of nuclear power. As countermeasures, INL has altered its advertising strategy to promote more frequent tours.

The research site’s tour director, Don Miley mentioned that the tragedy in Japan has cast fears among the public and has also created nuclear half-truths.

This year alone, INL has carried out no less than 100 expeditions following the estimated 200 tours given last year.

Although the INL provides military and university research services, its core focus lies on biotechnology, power and nuclear fusion development. Below are a few projects the INL showcased during a particular tour:

Aerospace Batteries

Due to launch in the year 2012, the modern space battery will soon be ready for installation in a remotely piloted space craft as INL scientists complete detailed research and design to send this new invention to Mars. 50 scientists are involved in the project since it first started back in the year 2008.

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), the next Mars rover, will be powered by these modern space batteries that are equipped with plutonium 238, unlike earlier Mars Exploration Rover missions that were powered by radiant energy from the sun – giving the MSL the advantage to venture into dark inner areas of craters that used to be unreachable.

The MSL will revise the potential Mars hold in supporting microorganism life, and will further verify the surroundings of ancient Mars by studying rocks and soil on the planet.

Fusion Energy

Failing attempts have been made by scientists of all nations to construct a nuclear fusion energy plant, but they are still determined to turn their theories into reality.

INL is involved in an international partnership to examine the suitability of France as a construction site for a fusion power plant.

The process of nuclear fission generates power by splitting the atoms, whereas nuclear fusion creates power by merging the atoms. Sun is currently the sole source of nuclear fusion energy being discovered.

Miley claimed that more complicated efforts are needed to seek means to tap fusion energy as temperatures equal to those of the sun are being dealt with when handling nuclear fusion.

Nuclear Waste

Radioactive waste storage has always been difficult, as it can lead to leakage as well as pollution, and radioactive decay need close to 24,000 years to complete its process.

Miley stated that nuclear power is less favored mainly due to the time needed for waste storage. Hence, the nuclear research site is looking for different means to substitute the current method of nuclear waste storage.

Nuclear waste recycling by reusing materials dug out through chemical process can be considered by INL as an alternative way. A few other countries are practicing nuclear waste recycling to generate power. However, present U.S. commercial plants do not have the permit to perform similar procedures.

Waste from nuclear reprocessing will be compressed in ceramic logs which only require a storage time of 300 years – one of the most timesaving methods scientists have ever discovered.

Military Security

Research is not the only facility the laboratory offers. With its 890 acres, INL also serves as a training base for military troops, such as snipers and gunmen, who will later be recruited into INL’s own security force team.

In the Department of Energy’s Security Protection Officer Team Competition which was held recently in Texas, INL’s officers proved their abilities by winning first place.

Acknowledging the promise the site holds in military training, U.S. Navy and Marines have utilized the site to test explosives and explosive detectors.

Source: Magic Valley

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But there are few reasons due to which his suggestions are not accepted. These are:

• Today, when the fossil fuels are depleted; there is a need for renewable sources of energy but going against the same, the government is still spending around 5 times on fossil fuels.

• Furthermore, wind power offers energies, which would last for next 30 years.

In a balanced stance, the wind energy is appropriately being protected and supported by the US government.

Source: Ev-Wind

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The events that transpired in Japan have placed nuclear power back in the limelight.

It is not always when scientific debate highlight emotions more than science itself.

But, come to think of it, it has a valid point.

For almost five decades, nuclear catastrophe was the biggest nightmare of our generation. And when Berlin wall collapsed so did our fears. Subsequently, our dreaded sentiments shifted to the outdated technology in dubious nations.

One Australian fan Ziggy Switowski, among other supporters, is assuming that Japan’s situation will create a break in these issues. Still, it’s quite difficult to join him in his enthusiasm.

For at least two decades, what happened in Japan will be a shadow hanging over the politicians’ head in any of their discussions. Being all too familiar with the views coming from the ill-famous focus groups, political groups – even those who fervently support the energy resource – will choose not to address these concerns.

And the situation may cause feelings of exasperation for them. With a generation that didn’t concern themselves about nuclear energy while growing up, it only indicated that the issue may come up again eventually.

No matter what the outcome of the Japanese nuclear situation will be, their hopes have already been shattered.

And this is a dilemma for those who have plans involving renewable energy in the future. At this time, as far as energy capacity is concerned, the main contender in the power sector is nuclear energy.

There is a rampant pursuit to look for an alternative source of energy, and the moment that inevitable technology comes out, nuclear will become obsolete. And it will be good to get rid of it.

Regardless of its impact (whether good or bad), it’s still good because this will eliminate the time wasted on debating over something that takes a lot of years to create. Instead, the time and resources can be spent taking into account the options which our citizens support, the most essential factor to consider in all these.

Go ahead, ask any government official, or better yet, why not ask their focus groups?

Source: SMH.

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Fukushima Daiichi plant suffered four explosions

To date, four explosions have been experienced at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the earthquake and tsunami that occurred on March 11, 2011. Throughout these events, the plants have repetitively discharged radiation, which in most times surpassed the government’s annual exposure limits, and residents who live within 20km were asked to evacuate.

Statements of Japanese nuclear officials and government authorities were released providing information, conflicting at times, about the nuclear plants’ condition. On March 12, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) reported that the first explosion’s cause could be from the reactor core’s meltdown. Meanwhile, spokespersons of Tokyo Electric Power Company in Tokyo, Japan and Japanese government authorities explained that it was the build-up of gases that caused it.

Incident is INES level 6, according to French Nuclear Authority

On March 12, 2011, officials of the Japanese government have estimated the explosion to be a level 4 incident. Currently, the only level 7 occurrences were in Ukraine in 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, meanwhile in Mayak, Russia in 1957, there was a level 6 incident during the Kyshtym Disaster.

Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire president André-Claude Lacoste in France on March 15, 2011 said that the fourth explosion at the plant on March 15 has raised the situation to level 6. This is the next to the highest level based on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES).

U.S. DOE maintains steadfast support on new nuclear plants

Despite the increasing worldwide public uproar against nuclear power influenced by the emerging recent reports of the Fukushima incident, things aren’t changing all over the world. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, on March 15, 2011, has reiterated the U.S. government’s commitment to four new U.S. nuclear reactors’ loan guarantees.

Nuclear plant situation causing damage to the international economic system, says WCRE.

The WCRE also points out that the Fukushima plants’ failings could have a significant impact on international economics, implying that the nuclear power plants’ emergency shutdown has brought about a cycle of organized black-outs in one of the three primary international financial centers of Tokyo. Furthermore, the organization asserts that the world can be exclusively be sustained by renewable energy.

Source: Solar Server

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Utility scale electricity is already offering commercial-scale solar for below 15 cents per kWh. Progress Energy and Duke Energy are refusing these offers by striving for new nuclear plants. If these new nuclear power plants will ever be finished, they will produce electricity at a cost of 14 to 18 cents per kWh.

A full report on solar And Nuclear Costs has been attached below:
Report entitled: Solar and Nuclear Costs — The Historic Crossover authored by John O. Blackburn, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Economics and former Chancellor, Duke University.

The fundamental finding of this report is that conventional sources of energy such as nuclear and fossil fuel is suffering from what economists refer to as an ‘upward sloping cost curve’. In simple terms cost will keep on increasing, unless new technology emerges in the field of fossil fuel, but the market for traditional energy is already saturated. Currently, research and innovation are only occurring in the field of renewable energy, and that explains the ‘downward sloping cost curve’ – that is cost of clean technology has constantly been decreasing (price) during the last decade.

Technological innovation is the pull force for this downward sloping cost curve for alternative sources of energy. The emergence of large manufacturing and expansion of wind and solar energy has led to economies of scale (lower cost per unit (kWh) due to efficiency derived from mass production).

Mass production is a result of the global renewable energy market, where we can find large players such as China. Recently, the Chinese government announced that their wind power supply is going to increase by 50 percent. Furthermore, Ontario has attracted the development of 8,000 MWs of solar development form feed-in tariffs.

The price of wind power is competitive with coal-fired power plants. Costs PV utility-scale solar panels have been decreasing radically during the recent years. During five years the price of solar panels has dwindled from $6 to below $2 per watt.

There is also another very significant factor in cost of energy, being volatility. The cost of fossil fuel keeps on increasing as its demand is rising while the global supply is uncertain. Supply is not easily increased. There is a high risk involved in augmenting supply due to deep sea drilling and other factors.

The cost of coal per tone is approximately $100 while the cost for oil is around $70 to $80 a barrel. In the recent years only natural gas has been able to maintain an equilibrium price at around $ 4 to $5 per mmbtu.

According to Blackburn/Cunningham study, nuclear power will equally be faced with this rising cost structure. This was claimed by reference to a study conducted by Mark Cooper, a Senior Fellow for Economic Analysis at the Vermont Law School’s Institute for Energy & the Environment. – The report suggests that nuclear power will cost around 12 to 20 cents per kWh while the average cost will be 16 cents, excluding transmission charges. –
Report Attached: Vermont Law

The real cost of energy has since long been hidden from consumers through confusing lobbyist forcing several government subsidies to be injected. Taxpayers have since long been injecting millions in energy making them less aware of the real costs. However, when talking about subsidies, we must acknowledge that taxpayers are currently subsidizing all sources of energy (renewable and fossil fuel). This was reported in the Blackburn/Cunningham study.

It can be deducted from the Blackburn/Cunningham report that price of electricity hasn’t reached its momentum and will keep on rising in the future. The retail price of electricity will go beyond 10 cents per kWh. Irrespective, whether solar or nuclear energy will be used the consumer price will go above current median price, if ever subsidies are reduced.

In America, there is a high need for energy conservation. According to U.S Energy Information Agency, statistic documents suggest that Americans represent nearly 5 percents of the world’s population while they consume around 21 percent of world’s energy. A Jato Dynamics Research says that 33.9 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States of America have a high consumption bracket (15 mpg to 20 mpg) while in Japan only 0.63 and in Europe 0.28 of vehicles sold falls in this parameter. Going for energy efficiency and conservations is a prerequisite condition to lower energy wastage.

Nevertheless, if energy efficiency and conservation are achieved, it should be noted that U.S and the World is currently facing an upswing in the demand for electricity. The growth of electric transportation as a remedy for dependency on gasoline and oil is boosting energy demands for renewable. Transportation electrification is providing lower cost per mile and also a solution to lower environmental impacts of fossil fuel (substituting petrol and diesel).

The rise of digital information is equally pushing up the demand for electricity. Digital tools are not only increasing labour productivity and augmenting revenue for Corporate America. It is calling more energy. The digital age is producing tools that ‘cost less’ but the bottleneck in the expense of technology is the requirement for electricity.

The application of digital technology to the current electrical grid is providing strong hopes of reaping higher energy efficiency and conservation potentials. However, the savings will be insufficient to compensate for the recharging of electric cars. The current challenge is to develop effective compressors to decrease energy consumption by cars as well as household applications such as refrigerators and televisions.

A potential solution to enhance the local distribution grid utilizing of renewable energy supply could be to introduce battery storage technologies. The development of smart grid technology would directly address issues of energy supply and conservation.

Consumers could be part of the supply chain for renewable energy; the purchase of electricity from third parties by utility companies represents a solid strategy to expand the use of sources of renewable. It does also significantly reduce the footprint and environmental impacts of generating clean energy.

There isn’t any clear cut explanation, whether renewable, nuclear or fossil technology will all grow in use. Nonetheless, Blackburn/Cunningham study suggests that over the long-run sources of renewable energy tend to be more cost-effective and environmentally sound. Renewable sources of energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and tidal power are all the appropriate sources to accommodate for increasing demand for electricity (transportation electrification).

Source: Green Economy Post, Triple Pundit and Report on Solar and Nuclear Costs

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As a result of this discover at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, the forecasts regarding low-cost energy by nuclear fusion got even brighter now.

A group of researchers, led by the famous physicist Doctor Franklin Felber has taken a major step in view to meet two of the major technological challenges concerning pulsed power for fusion; pulse compression and current amplification. The team’s finding is available in the Physical Review Letters.

The Manager of the Radiation and Fusion Experiments Group, Sandia, Doctor Michael Cuneo, stated that these are unanticipated and surprising outcomes and if established by further experiments could abbreviate the time period and lower costs to achieve nuclear fusion that is driven by pulsed power.

Research teams from all parts of the world have, for nearly 40 years, been working at production of energy through tiny nuclear explosions enduring merely billionths of one second within a reactor. This method, known as inertial confinement fusion (ICF), needs that immense power be concentrated nearly instantly onto hydrogen pellets.

The team of researchers had been trying to boost up the power that could be supplied to such fusion targets by binding little cartridges to Sandia’s huge Saturn pulsed power generator. The cartridges worked even better than what was initially hoped by doubling-up the generator’s current. However, the researchers almost disregarded the results, due to the fact that the striking increase in electrical power took place all of a sudden, only much after the Saturn generator pulse had stopped.

The research team hypothesizes that the material heated off the cartridge walls which blocked the current pulse, thus permitting electrical energy to increase in the cartridge prior to discharging the energy, without warning, into the target volume. Generating high-power pulses in such a way; from low-power generators could give rise to considerable in potential fusion power plants.

A Professor of Engineering Physics of the University of California at San Diego, Doctor Farhat Beg, who has also been working together with Sandia in regards to pulsed power experiments, says that the work that has been reported here appears to be a considerable technological progress in open switches and flux compression that could probably speed up development as well as bring a reduction in the capital costs of fusion power plants in the future.

Doctor Felber, in the mid 1980’s, conducted a research effort that was paid by the Department of Energy of U.S. It also included scientists from former Soviet Union and Sandia. The research team illustrated that plasma, a hot ionized gas, could in fact ‘pinch’ a magnetic field to what was at that time the greatest value yet produced within a laboratory; around a hundred million times more than planet Earth’s magnetic field. Researchers from all around the world have since then been attempting to make use of this technique of plasma ‘magnetic flux compression’ to increase the high levels of currents required for fusion.

The Research Physicist of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory established in Washington, D.C., Doctor Alexander Velikovich, who is also one of the previous Soviet scientists who was considered to be a pioneer along with Doctor Felber, in magnetic flux compression, approximately three decades ago, states that the findings of these recent experiments made on the Saturn generator provides big promises for the future of magnetic flux compression to attain the short pulses and high electrical powers required for fusion drivers.

For the past three decades, research teams from the four corners of the globe have moreover been trying to build up high-power plasma opening switches that would be able to accumulate electrical energy in a magnetic field and then discharge it onto a target suddenly. The cartridges that have been developed by the researchers to boost currents amazingly also proved to be very efficient plasma opening switches, amassing electrical energy for a much longer period compared to the Saturn generator pulse, and the releasing it into the target volume in much shorter time than the Saturn generator pulse.

According to Doctor Felber, unveiling this unanticipated combination of amplifying current through pulse sharpening and flux compression through a plasma opening switch that takes place naturally was a sheer lucky accident. He advances that he hopes that these advances are quickly put into use in order to assist in solving some of the challenges that scientists are facing in meeting the nation’s needs in power in a sustainable way.

Source: Nuclearstreet

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In the speech at IBEW Local Headquarters in Lanham, Maryland, he announced the importance of meeting energy challenges in the future. There is a plan to construct nuclear reactors at Southern Company plant in Burke, Georgia. It is an initiative that will create employment in the coming years.

These green spurring projects are stimulating the economy and creating employment throughout the economy.

Yet, the president acknowledges that there exist severe shortcomings of nuclear power. It is thus imperative to assure health and safety at work. President Obama is addressing the use of safety by assuring that nuclear experts examine the challenges and establishes the strongest safety measures for the nuclear power plants.

America is certainly not willing to lag behind. President Obama pointed-out that countries such as Japan and France have been investing in nuclear energy since long. Moreover, at the moment there are 56 nuclear reactors being constructed worldwide; 5 in India, 6 in South Korea and 21 in China. Irrespective of the type of technology, wind, solar or nuclear energy it is important to invest in them all. The absence of proper investment will in the future make the economy reliable on importing instead of exporting these sources and thereby creating employment outside the United State of America.

There will be intense debate amidst entrepreneurs and environmentalists on the issue of construction nuclear power stations. Yet, establishing a single nuclear power plant in Georgia can reduce CO2 emission by as much as 16 million tones a year in contrast to conventional coal plants. It would also be the same as removing 3.5 million automobiles form the road according the President Obama.

President Obama emphasized that nuclear power plants will be able to supply a majority of energy demands in 30 years ahead. It is thus a convenient solution to both tackle climate change as well as addressing the intensifying demand for energy.

It is well known that fossil fuel is comparatively more cost effective. It is thus fundamental to create proper climate legislation to put a cost to carbon pollution. This will likely draw high support from various sides.

The focus on clean energy with effective low carbon technology is a basic step towards a greener economy. However, inspection will remain a necessary focus to assure that energy supply is within norms and regulation. It will also assure Health and safety at the workplace.

Additional Facts about Nuclear Energy

Nuclear is not a renewable source of energy, more information can be explored: Renewable Energy Why Speak About Nuclear Energy?

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