We’re struggling to figure out what the future of sustainable energy looks like on our planet, and there are a lot of different directions we could go. The UK, however, made a bold move when they recently announced a huge investment in a prototype fusion power facility that could be functioning as a commercial power plant by 2040! That’s pretty mind blowing for many reasons, one of which is that fusion power isn’t really a reality yet. See, nuclear fusion is what powers stars, including our Sun. And the ‘fusion’ part refers to the fact that isotopes of extremely light elements like hydrogen, are fusing together at the extremely high temperatures and pressures that exist at the center of stars. Under these conditions, gases like helium and hydrogen actually exist as plasmas. For a fusion interaction to occur, the nuclei of the atoms that are being joined have to undergo a change in the way they’re put together. We take those two isotopes, usually heavy hydrogen isotopes like deuterium and tritium, and expose them to really extreme conditions. What comes out on the other side of that really hot, dense party is a rearrangement of their component parts: helium atoms, neutrons and a HUGE amount of energy. So how the heck do we recreate what happens inside of stars…here on Earth? Well, you have to try and replicate those extreme conditions so that you can get the atoms to behave the way you want them to. That involves creating plasmas, or taking gases to very high temperatures and densities which a number of innovative facilities do in a variety of ways. One of these facilities is called Iter, which means ‘the way’ in Latin and is a major international fusion collaboration that’s been in progress since 1985. China, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the U.S. are all contributing members who have agreed to fund ITER’s goal of producing fusion energy that could power our world Because if we could make it work the way we hope to? Fusion energy could provide us with clean, basically limitless energy. And the U.K. government just dedicated 220 million pounds for a facility of their own. So the race is very much on, as it has been for several decades. Because as amazing as the idea of fusion energy is, we still haven’t reached a point where the amount of energy produced by the fusion reaction is greater than the amount of energy it takes to create the interaction in the first place. Until we’re able to make that happen, it doesn’t really make sense to think about fusion energy as a commercial option. This U.K. prototype fusion facility is called the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production, or STEP. And the first step toward making STEP a reality is to come up with the design for the plant. Then—if the project gets approved to move forward—actually building the spec power plant would cost somewhere on the order of billions of pounds. STEP is hoping to make breakthroughs in the field by pursuing a slightly different approach from Iter— specifically, a different kind of tokamak. A tokamak is a common design for the central machine of a potential magnetic fusion reactor, where the plasma is created and where the fusion takes place. The newly proposed U.K. facility will use a smaller, more spherical tokamak which they hope will be cheaper. Iter’s long-standing plans incorporate a larger donut-shaped tokamak, a design which has been more extensively studied. So on the one hand, STEP’s innovation presents a risk, but it also presents an opportunity to potentially improve energy yield and on a smaller initial budget. It’s definitely interesting that the UK is announcing their plans for this extremely ambitious project just as it faces uncertainty around the Brexit decision… and therefore its involvement with Iter. Because remember, the EU is one of Iter’s contributing members, so if the U.K. leaves the EU… then they’re on their own for fusion innovation. But they’re not alone in branching out— each of the seven Iter partners are exploring commercial reactors on their own as well. With all of these efforts, plus the ongoing international collaboration of Iter, the hope is to make fusion energy a reality sooner, rather than later. 2040 seems like an ambitious goal, but I think it’s going to take that kind of audacity to get us where we need to go… and in the process, make the future of humanity on this planet more sustainable and honestly, possible. If you want to see how close we are to fusion energy, check out this video here, and let us know what other futuristic energy developments you want us to cover down in the comments below. Subscribe to Seeker for all your energy tech news, and thanks for watching! I’ll see you next time.
Hi Seekers, thanks for watching! Want more on fusion energy? Check out this episode of How Close Are We?: https://youtu.be/ZW_YCWLyv6A
Hmmmmmm donuts! (Homer)
why is this so great? since ITER (France) is scheduled to be operational in the early 2030s to mid 2030s, it's way ahead of UK's plans.
They wouldn't have to built it on their own if they were a part of the eu. But probably it will lead to more jobs in uk and a different approach improves the chances of making fusion power become a reality
I’m from the UK and I study physics and want to get into this field, it’s super exciting to think the UK might be on the forefront of something like this
How dare you. You know nothing of brexit and what we will or won't be able to do. Also it's not if we leave it's when. We will be free
No no no, you guys got it all wrong. Either get the earrings or do the dance. That's how fusion has and always will work
These reactors are not by any means 'power plants'. Again just huge experiments with zero power transmission capability. A lot of power goes in.. nothing comes out!
Greace of love, a fysical fushion a sustantiable one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oKPYe53h78
Fusion? ha!
Yeah but what's the scouter say?
after BREXIT then want FUXIT?
Sustainable energy will never exists if civilization's vision is unsustainable. Continual, exponential growth and the economies that rely on it need to be replaced with flat growth. And that will require an egalitarian social structure, not one ruled by wealthy elites. And that will require understanding why our 3-tiered social system evolved in the first place, not by passing tax laws and regulations.
And of course none of this can happen if we continue to viscerally believe civilization's key myths:
1) The world was made for us.
2) We were made to rule the world.
3) There is only one right way to live.
4) Humans are flawed.
Instead, everyone needs to understand that:
1) We are a part of everything, not above it.
2) There is no single right way to live.
3) Humans are not flawed.
Anything less than this and we will be removed from this planet in the not too distant future. (That's what unsustainable means.)
Fusion power sounds good, but stop talking about it as a fix for a larger problem when instead the thinking behind it is rooted in the core problems.
Fat but firm
Maren Hunsberger should host a video about the science of burgers while slowly eating a burger.. 🙈😂
If you put a catalytic muon fusion reactor in low Earth orbit you'd have all the muons you'd need and could then beam power down to the surface
1:32 so its called "de wae" seems like Uganda is sponcoring this😏
These are such paltry investment numbers for something that the entire planet depends on.
Ford threw a quick $600,000,000 at Rivian.
Lockheed was just given $3,300,000,000 to manage a satellite communications network for ten years.
Raytheon was just awarded a $5,000,000,000 contract to upgrade the Patriot missile radar system.
And, these are really just recent, everyday contracts that I picked off of the Seeking Alpha ticker.
So, when I hear that a country or countries refuse to put the billions anywhere that isn't designed to kill, I'm not impressed.
I suppose it's PURELY coincidence that the rendering looks a lot like the ark reactor from Iron Man.
"Wait before Elon Musk shoot his fusion rocket into another galaxy"
Concept of cold nuclear fusion rejected on non coherent detection of neutrons. Does strings theory also rejects it?
Recreating a mini star on our planet sounds like a horrible idea…………
Sexy and smart u go girl
Everything begins with a thought
Bravo to the UK !!!!!
Fusion is also uses 'fossil fuels' for my personal definition, which is fuel that can't be replaced. It uses the fuel from a fossil universe. 🙂 But, of course, so does every other source of energy, ultimately. Entropy, you can't escape it. But, yeah, fusion would be really good. I still think we should consider fission (fuel from fossil stars) until fusion is viable.
BTW, solar doesn't use fossil fuels because the sun would shine whether or not we collected the energy. We aren't using up hydrogen in order to produce energy. Something else is already using up gobs of hydrogen, and we're just collecting the energy that would otherwise go to waste.
"Fusion power is just around the corner." – A physicist from the 30s
. Recoloured.
solar roadways all the way
Y'all fact check yourself? We have put out a positive energy yield just not a consistent yield that's worth slamming into a generator
Do you know ITER – Latin Knuckles!
3D visualization with atractive voice women narrators es really inspiring, but i think that Seeker has to find the way to go to full doucmentries, and much more get into educacion and the WebGl or Unity could be perfect.
british people are so smart
The uk is years behind
2040 ? really? so not happening in my lifetime then?
Given the history of fusion, this seems like a colossal waste of money to make a new tokamak from scratch.
In 2100, UK will be building a prototype that'll active by 2120. This time for sure….
Where is my Trace Dominguez? I miss him… Much love too Maren Hunsberger I love you too.
Call me a pessimist, but I don't think the UK can do this. I dont think it will be reached for just 220M. I dont think fusion is possible in 20 years.
When we start to mass produce the new Solid State battery 🔋 we will be able to get by on solar wind and hydro.
Search YouTube for "The ELEMENTS in six dimensions, arranged by volume periods of nuclide mass averages"
At least Boris managed to do something. But if this doesn't work there's Thorium based molten salt reactors, too bad it's going to be very diffucult to get people to accept them.
Fusion power solves not just our energy issues, but the fresh water supply problems too! I think we'll have viable fusion power in the next 30 years, I just hope the climate doesn't keep us from making it that far.
In short Spiderman 2
China already has one almost done, so they are going to lose that race.
meanwhile
nuclear power/thorium-power/solar-satellites/hydro-kinetic-turbines: am i a joke to you?
…
but no really, other nuclear options are available already. there is no need to reinvent the wheel. they are on the coast, with stupid strong water currents just off shore of there major cities……why not place the wind-turbines….underwater? people are trying it.
Smart chicks are hot. 👍🖖😎
The Safire project already achieved fusion. Do an episode on that.
UK can't do it!
It is an international project!
Did the U.K. Sign goku and vegeta from Japan?
Hopes and dreams this has been a dream for decades . The dreamers will now believe it’s a hope . But that’s all dreams are . Dreaming of something that they can do which only god has created. Dreamers have only dreams to give them the answers to do this and dreams are also nightmares that dreamers thank god it was only a dream.
Your Giggling Boobies are driving me crazy!
1:29 I guess they kno de wae.
In all seriousness, though, I just had a thought. What if the reason we haven't been able to make fusion work for us is that we've been working on too small of a scale? How big are the smallest stars? What if the only way to make sustainable fusion energy production work is to match or exceed those smallest stars' dimensions?
I have a dream of a day when an article about fusion doesn't begin with a description of what fusion is.
This web technology can not only serve for marketing and sales, but also for the testing of such complex physics topics that Maren is describing https://carvisualizer.plus360degrees.com/threejs/
If we can make fusion on earth as efficiently as the sun, what wattage is possible? I mean ideal conditions?
Sun energy is 3000W/sqm.
Divide by solar volume, and we have less energy per cubic meter than a compost heap…. And we are going to have to therefore be 100* more effective than the sun?
Stop this nonsense, let's build a warp drive.
It seems bold to build a fusion power plant when they don't know if it's even going to work. Good on them, though. Innovation has to start somewhere.
Sorry folks. Gonna take 50+ years. Don't hold your breath
2040 will be lit. Fusion and a Mars Colony? Hope we don't f-up a lot until then.
That was a lot of context and very little news. Details about what "slightly smaller doughnut" means and why that would be advantageous would have been more interesting than all the non-news about ITER. After all, it's a science channel, is it not? 😉
To bad we can't create a biological magma monster that we can just keep it alive to create steam power! 😉
Why not do a show about the other fusion devices. Some developed by Boeing, Darpa, Northrop, and MIT. Do a story about the reactor started by laser beams & xray beams.
So is China. So is Japan. They should race to this babe's tight asshole.
Sorry, but I think that fusion energy won't be available in near future.
Legend has it, it's still 30 years away
We already have an extremely reliable, maintenance free fusion reactor that delivers basically limitless energy for free, just saying.
I suppose the lesson here is that if you throw enough money at something it will work
Can I date her
Let's not blow this out of proportion lol. The future of humanity is not in any way threatened by an inability to create electricity. Only the future of convenience and various types of machine-work is threatened. Mankind wasn't exactly on the brink of extinction before the 1800s just because they didn't have a power source for machines to do work for us.
Really disappointing to see Seeker uncritically rehashing propaganda from the UK government… Here's a Twitter thread I wrote about why this is absolutely absurd: https://twitter.com/statto/status/1178604493358977024 It’s great to big up fusion at any opportunity, but please consult some experts before doing politicians’ PR for them!
FFS!… America take note, it's called THE UK, not just UK … Jesus how hard is it?
Tokamak energy's roadmap is actually grid ready power with the ST-E1 by 2030… Get it right will ya
Sounds Safe.
Oil Companies: wait! Thats illegal!
It's about time the British finger it out !! ..
Extremely well done and very informative but…
Very misleading headlines to get YouTube hits.
Seems more like "Back to the Future".
I give a dislike (and unsubscribe if subscribed) for ANY and ALL DIShonest (They be DIS-ing us) or misleading headlines on YouTube.
Make the world (more) honest again!
Uk built the first Fusion Power Plant in 2020? (Maybe)
Zephron Cochran flew the first warp drive ship in April 5, 2063.
In the year 2525, if mankind is still alive….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQfxi8V5FA&list=RDzKQfxi8V5FA&start_radio=1&t=74
I'm sure in 2040 the commercialisation is gonna be 'just around the corner and fully ready by 2060'
They full of shit …..look at the mess 😂
Ball of wire shit 😂😂😂
What happens if theres to much energy 😭😂
Reactor: Not today Satan
Hydrogen: Party
she said the B word 😳
"Alexa, set timer for 20 years."
In 20 years time… "Alexa, OH NEVERMIND"
Does this mean in theory one day (many many lifetimes from now) we may be able to create artificial stars to sustain life?
Failure, I smell it in this one.
Ugh dont be so ignorant, they already have fusion reactors but wont release the info to the public. The best Example: usnavy patent for a compact fusion reactor….you cant have a patent if it doesnt Work.
How could you talk about fusion with out mentioning the SAFIRE project? https://www.safireproject.com/
Uk: we will have fusion by 2040
Also Uk: Lets brexit and plunge our economy into the dark ages. We will be Lucky to afford coal.
Scotland: FREEEEEDOMMM!!!! #indyrefdeux
tokamak's have been around for years they use enough power to run a small town , and run for less than a second !
and still they have no idea what to do with the masses of heat produced , quite litraly too hot for anything we have to handle ,
and if the uk thinks it might be twenty years ,it probably was a typo error they meant 200 years more like !
Brexit will not impact UK involvement in ITER! The US is a contributor and it feels that taxation without representation is a bad idea!
Ironically the UK could be in a better position to positively impact ITER outside the union.
No valueless middle man!
2040 – lol – predictions rely on thinking we will eventually know what we don’t know, based on historical progress, but clearly in this case we know that we don’t know when, we will know.
Unclear what it makes different from iter.
US already has it, but don't want to release it to protect the Petro dollar.
This is gonna look like a ridiculously expensive waste of money by the time they light it up. MITs ARC reactor is already much more promising. Yes they have scale but with the rapid improvement in super conductor tech, there won’t be any reason to build these giant reactors.
That first shot over city was Shanghai. Over my home in Xuhui district. Haha
We don't need fusion energy in a world that provides us with girls like her with so much fat to burn. This is renewable. Burning witches provides a good amount of heat.
You can skip the first 3 boring minutes guys. Just a big intro to fill the void.
Many of the nations involed in ITER are not EU nations, but somehow the UK leaving the EU means it cannot participate….
Maren, please make a video on fusion in 20 years?
I NEED TRITIUM SPIDERMAN!
2040… still, nuclear fusion is 20 years away, just like it always has
The presenters passion is contagious
we have free energy devices, but they are being suppressed! we need to demand from ourselves the release of those technologies now.
So theoretically if we could get fusion to work then we could fuse all the way down to iron, then having an informant amount of iron.