EDIT: It’s come to my attention that the information this post was based on was false, and that Governor Schwarzenegger has not publicly announced any plans to fund a fusion reactor based on Dr. Bussard’s Inertial Electrostatic Fusion reactor designs. In the effort of transparency, I will leave the post up and vow to exercise due diligence in the future.
Governor Schwarzenegger is a bit of a heretic in government. It seems that every time you turn around, he’s accomplishing another goal. Be it in the fight against pollution, or the war against drugs, this man is on a mission and nothing is going to get in his way.
Of course, it’s because of his vision that he makes such an effective leader, and I respect the man for all his accomplishments.
So it comes as no surprise that word on the wire is that the Governor is looking to further cement his Earth-friendly image by launching a $200-million effort into the most efficient and non-polluting power generation technologies known to man.
Using technologies devised by Dr. Robert W. Bussard, the project is focussed on the Inertial Electrostatic Fusion reactor. This radiation free fusion reactor has the potential to change the whole landscape of energy generation, which has typically been served by nuclear, hydro, coal and natural gas technologies.
As of 2006, California’s peak energy usage was about 40,000 MegaWatts and is expected to steadily grow at about 3% annually. Fusion energy opens a whole new avenue of incredibly clean energy that could not only satisfy the growing energy needs, but also power massive desalination plants that could help reduce the state’s severe water shortages.
Fusion is not to be confused with fission. Fission, used in our current nuclear power plants, is the process where unstable heavy atoms are split into radioactive atoms. Fusion, however, is the process of merging two lighter atoms. This process is the most abundant energy source found in the universe, and is found at the core of every star.
Dr. Bussard’s fusion process takes boron-11 and a proton, then fuses them together to produce an excited carbon-12 atom. This excited atom then decays into one beryllium-8 atom and one helium-4. The beryllium-8 then decays 10 seconds later into two more helium-4 atoms. This is the only nuclear-energy releasing process in the world that releases energy and three helium atoms, with no neutrons. This process is also 100% free of radiation.
The potential energy output of a single Electric Fusion reactor would be anywhere between 100 and 1,000 MegaWatts and would provide enough power for a quarter-million homes. The expected cost of such a reactor is in the neighbourhood of $200-million USD, making it a bargain when compared to France’s planned $12-billion ITER reactor.
The potential benefits of this technology are enormous, and could open the doors to new ideas never before considered feasible. Imagine having a few of these in every country, producing zero emissions and fuelling everyone’s electric-hydrogen vehicles. Imagine space probes being sent out into the voids of space with power supplies that could allow the vessel to operate at 100% power levels for millenium. Imagine having enough power at your disposal to pump drinkable water to anywhere on the planet.
Perhaps this vision is a bit altruistic but, with more politicians like Governor Schwarzenegger in power, it could become a reality.
Interesting,
Everytime I read an article on the advances of hydrogen fusion, I know we are one step closer to this becoming reality for all. Although it will take years to build these hydrogen fusion power stations, at least it is a start, unlike the oil embargo and nothing being done, other than gov. sleeping on the job when it comes to ending our foreign oil dependency. Too bad Arnold can’t run for president, at least he is pro environment.
NanoDetonator.com
For more background on Dr. Bussard’s work:
Bussard Fusion Reactor
Easy Low Cost No Radiation Fusion
For a deeper look at the technology:
IEC Fusion Newsgroup
IEC Fusion Technology blog
Amazing news! Where did you get this information? I know about the story at nextenergynews.com, but it doesn’t mention a dollar figure for the effort. Is there a press release somewhere, or is this a heard-it-from-a-friend sort of thing?
This appears to be a fraud. I’ve been talking with the Governor’s office, and they say it is flat-out false and has no basis.
In addition, I’ve been unable to find any useful contact information for “NextEnergyNews,” not so much as a name or phone number. Some searches have turned up other dubious stories they’ve posted on so-called “free energy” schemes and so on. I think we may need to put them at the top of our list of web sites to ignore.
For more info or to join in discussion, go to talk-polywell.org.
Yeah, I picked this up on NextEnergyNews as well and found other sites discussing various aspects of the plan. But in my searches for an actual press release from the Governor, I couldn’t find anything.
This is one of those too-good-to-be-true stories that seemed to catch on very quickly and receive some much undeserved attention.
I’ll need to be more vigilant in the future regarding these stories….
I’m wondering what Next’s source was. Maybe it’s a leak from a lower level, and the higher levels of CA gov just don’t know about it.
I suppose it could be wholly fabricated by Next, but it seems unlikely. I’ll try to contact them.
If it were a low-level leak or rumor, it should have been reported as such: “An anonymous source claims to have inside information that…” Instead, it were reported as fact, as if the writer himself knew it to be true.
So the way I see it, Next is either horribly sloppy, or just making things up. One is only slightly better than the other.
I have posted a retraction:
Rumor