Chapter
Reaching Sustainable Energy Use Requires Dramatic Changes
35:52 - 48:26 (12:33)
To reach a sustainable use of energy and reduce CO2 emissions by a factor of 100 in Western economies, significant changes and shared energy resources are necessary. The history of pandemics also shows that current suffering from COVID-19 is less than it could have been.
Clips
The earliest nuclear weapons were pure fission weapons, which set off a fission explosion through a chemical implosion, but it was later realized that by combining a fission bomb with fusion reactions, more energy could be available because the fusion reactions give more energy per unit mass.
35:52 - 38:53 (03:01)
Summary
The earliest nuclear weapons were pure fission weapons, which set off a fission explosion through a chemical implosion, but it was later realized that by combining a fission bomb with fusion reactions, more energy could be available because the fusion reactions give more energy per unit mass.
ChapterReaching Sustainable Energy Use Requires Dramatic Changes
Episode#112 – Ian Hutchinson: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics, and Religion
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The National Ignition Facility in Livermore was built to reach fusion ignition through pulsed forms of reactions with extremely powerful lasers.
38:53 - 40:56 (02:02)
Summary
The National Ignition Facility in Livermore was built to reach fusion ignition through pulsed forms of reactions with extremely powerful lasers. Although it seems possible to reach ignition in this way, it may not be feasible with current laser facilities.
ChapterReaching Sustainable Energy Use Requires Dramatic Changes
Episode#112 – Ian Hutchinson: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics, and Religion
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
For the world to achieve a sustainable use of energy and reduce CO2 emissions by a factor of 100 in Western economies, there needs to be significant changes in society's use of energy and shared energy resources more uniformly.
40:56 - 48:26 (07:29)
Summary
For the world to achieve a sustainable use of energy and reduce CO2 emissions by a factor of 100 in Western economies, there needs to be significant changes in society's use of energy and shared energy resources more uniformly. Simply switching from coal to natural gas is not enough, and there is potential for pandemics worse than the current COVID-19 crisis.