Re: DON'T LOSE time and money around the fusion energy illusion and the lunar-helium-3 dream!!!

In article <1188382498.363994.11540@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Ian Parker <ianparker2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The inherent problem with renewable power is that the Sun does not
always shine.

Er, yes it does. (It just so happens that most of us have a giant rock
between us and the Sun half the time, and annoying bunches of water
vapor for much of the rest of the time.)

The wind does not always blow. Sure they can make a
contribution.

If you electroyse water and burn hydrogen you can get round this to
some extent. Solar power (in a desert) has got to be economical enough
to produce easity transportable hydogen.

Why does it have to? I can see why you'd like it to, but I don't see
why it has to.

Nuclear power, whether
fission or fusion produces power whenever it is needed.

True.

As I think I have said to Joe earlier we need to have an open mind
with regard to He3 or tritium. Most fusion research so far is directed
to Tritium. Personally I feel this could be a mistake, but that is
only my opinion.

Most fusion research is a mistake in my opinion as well. This is not to
do with the fuels chosen so much as the basic approach, trying to get
things to fuse thermally instead of accelerating the fuel ions to a
focus.

I think the He3 is there on the Moon. The question I have is much
more, do we need astronauts to get it for us, or is the robotic route
preferable?

You should first ask whether there's any point in getting it at all. I
think there is not. (But fortunately, there are other very good reasons
for living and working on the Moon.)

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"Polywell" fusion -- an approach to nuclear fusion that might actually work.
Learn more and discuss via: <http://www.strout.net/info/science/polywell/>
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