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US scientists achieve net energy gain for second time in a fusion reaction
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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Technology
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This means we'll need capture efficiency technology above 66% for this to be a net positive in terms of power generation.
For current fission nuclear power plants: "Nuclear power plant efficiency averages around 33%, which is comparable to other fossil fuel-based generation units. This means that 77% [sic, should be 67%] of the energy produced by a nuclear plant is lost and only 33% is converted into electricity. Some modern nuclear plants may be able to achieve 45% efficiency."
from link: https://www.pcienergysolutions.com/2023/04/17/power-plant-efficiency-coal-natural-gas-nuclear-and-more/#:~:text=Nuclear%20power%20plant%20efficiency%20averages,able%20to%20achieve%2045%25%20efficiency.
This doesn't mean anything, as it's not actually overall net positive. It just makes for a nice headline. But it's just that more energy than the late deposited into the pallet came out of it.
But more energy than to run the lasers or the entire facility? Far, far, far from it.
What if you used the sun as the source of the laser?
That's how Supermans laser eyes work.
You can! And we do! In fact, then you can skip the whole fusion step, since the sun laser is already powered by fusion, and just collect the energy. I think that tech is called soul... Soul-Harp-N-L.
Using a fusion reactor to power a solar collector to fuel a fusion reactor.