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by Annabelle Yao,
The Lawrenceville School
Through the television comes a thundering crash as yet another piece of the arctic icecap breaks off into the ocean. Climate change is catastrophically impacting the earth's ecosystem, from melting icecaps to dried riverbeds to lost wildlife habitats. The culprit behind it? Fossil fuels.
According to the United Nations, burning fossil fuels contributes to over 75% of global greenhouse gas and over 90% of CO2 emissions. In 2022, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels combustion reached 36.6 gigatons, a weight equivalent to approximately 245 million adult blue whales. Global warming caused by CO2 emissions has severely altered about 75% of our terrestrial environment and resulted in over 1 million animal and plant species being threatened by extinction.
Factories releasing CO2 emissions into the environment during their industrial processes.
“Data Shows Global-Warming Effects | Arkansas Democrat Gazette.” Arkansasonline.com, 31 Oct. 2021, www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/oct/31/data-shows-global-warming-effects/. Accessed 6 May 2024.
The countdown has started. Scientists claim that we must reach net-zero emissions by 2050 to limit global warming to only 1.5°C. Otherwise, the earth could face irreversible damages such as frequent droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires. However, we need a cleaner and more efficient energy source to replace fossil fuels to achieve the goal.
Fortunately, Lawrence Livermore National Ignition Facility researchers have discovered a possible alternative. On December 5th, 2022, using 192 giant lasers, scientists at LLNIF achieved a 50% net energy gain in an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiment, producing more energy from the fusion reaction than the laser energy invested, a condition known as nuclear ignition.
Nuclear fusion is when two light atoms collide at high speeds and fuse into a new heavier atom while releasing some mass to be converted into a significant amount of energy. Through nuclear fusion, the sun emits light and heat onto the earth and nurtures life. But how exactly do researchers stimulate the nuclear fusion process? Currently, there are 2 main types of experiments which can cause the nuclear fusion reaction.
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California investigating Nuclear Fusion in their laboratory.
“Scientists Achieve Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough with Blast of 192 Lasers (Published 2022).” The New York Times, 2024, www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/science/nuclear-fusion-energy-breakthrough.html. Accessed 5 May 2024.
One method is magnetic confinement. Magnetic confinement uses a z-pinch toroidal machine, which was first built in the UK in 1948. The machine uses magnetic fields from superconducting electromagnets cooled with liquid helium to squeeze plasma in a round, donut shaped chamber at high speeds to reach the designated temperature required for fusion.
The other method, which was used in the fusion ignition experiment is inertial confinement. Inertial confinement uses 142 laser beams, directed at a cylindrical chamber which contains a round capsule. Before entering the chamber, the infrared beams are converted into UV rays, and upon entering the chamber they are reemitted as higher frequency x-rays. The shape of the chamber and the circular shape of the fuel capsule allows the x-ray beams to be evenly distributed to the fuel pellet. The x-ray beams cause the outer plastic layer of the fuel pellet to implode, allowing the fuel to reach over 100 million degrees in the core of the fuel. Thus, fusion begins.
Image of Inertial Confinement Nuclear Fusion through use of lasers directed at a cylindrical chamber.
“Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Achieves Fusion Ignition.” Llnl.gov, 2020, www.llnl.gov/article/49306/lawrence-livermore-national-laboratory-achieves-fusion-ignition. Accessed 5 May 2024.
For six decades, NIF has been trying to replicate the sun's energy mechanism. With the latest breakthrough, human civilization finally unearths a possible superior energy. "Fusion has the potential to provide a near-limitless, safe, clean source of carbon-free baseload energy," said Dr. Robbie Scott of the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Central Laser Facility (CLF) Plasma Physics Group.
Energy from nuclear ignition is more eco-friendly and more efficient than fossil fuels. Deuterium, one of the key elements used in nuclear ignition, is a common hydrogen isotope extracted from seawater. The ignition rarely produces harmful waste. When it does, the radioactive waste produced is small in quantity and short-lived. According to research by the International Atomic Energy Agency, using only the amount of deuterium present in 1 liter of seawater, nuclear ignition could produce more energy than the combustion of 300 liters of oil.
“We have taken the first step into the fusion age,” Vincent Tang, NIF’s principal deputy director, said, adding, “This is the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end.”
It is still hard to determine how soon nuclear ignition technology can be fully commercialized. But after years of exploring various other clean energy sources, we finally see a real hope, through which lies a bright future for our blue planet.
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Ziroth. (2022, December 20). Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion Energy Explained [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/d0IIXINcCeM
Causes and effects of climate change. (n.d.). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change
Carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation. (n.d.). World Nuclear Association. https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/energy-and-the-environment/carbon-dioxide-emissions-from-electricity.aspx#:~:text=Worldwide%20emissions%20of%20carbon%20dioxide,2%20and%20other%20greenhouse%20gases.
Foreman, J. (2022, December 12). Breakthrough in nuclear fusion could mean near-limitless energy. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/12/breakthrough-in-nuclear-fusion-could-mean-near-limitless-energy#:~:text=%E2%80%9CFusion%20has%20the%20potential%20to,input%20by%20the%20laser%20beams.
Bintanja, R., & van Oldenborgh, G. J. (2011). North Atlantic warming and the retreat of Arctic sea ice. Environmental Research Letters, 6(4), 045505. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/045505
Why are glaciers and sea ice melting? (n.d.). World Wildlife Fund. https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-ice-melting#:~:text=Scientists%20project%20that%20if%20emissions,temperatures%20continue%20to%20rise%20rapidly
Guillen, A. (2020, February 14). Climate change study warns of plant and animal extinction. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/14/climate-change-study-plant-animal-extinction/4760646002/
Nuclear fusion basics. (n.d.). International Atomic Energy Agency. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/nuclear-fusion-basics
Kramer, A. (2022, December 13). Scientists achieve major nuclear fusion energy breakthrough. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/science/nuclear-fusion-energy-breakthrough.html
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