How Seawater Can Power the World

Securing future energy sources will follow the path of past examples – through the long, hard work of scientific discovery that is so often a gamble. “[A]bundant, safe and clean energy source once thought to be the stuff of science fiction is closer than many realize: nuclear fusion,” writes Stewart C. Prager, Princeton physicist, in an opinion essay for the New York Times. But billions of dollars stand between the promise and the delivery, and the US government investments in scientific research are under threat. Fusing atomic nuclei to convert mass into energy and heat – and controlling the super-hot plasma – stands as the great engineering challenge of our day, explains Prager. He adds, “Scientists not only produce 100 million-degree plasmas routinely, but they control and manipulate such ‘small suns’ with remarkable finesse.” The EU, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States cooperate on research to produce fusion power, but the prospects appear dim if US zeal for scientific investment and exploration remain missing in action. – YaleGlobal