ANOTHER oil spill, it’s past time to unlock fusion energy

Residents in Battle Creek, MI are advised to steer clear of the Kalamazoo river because some 840,000 gallons of oil have leaked into it, creating potentially hazardous fumes. The oil isn’t stopping there though, it’s moving toward Lake Michigan and may be there within several days. This oil spill, in tandem with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and other recent oil spills certainly point to a systemic problem in the way we’re transporting and creating energy.

Electricity is the driver behind it because it provides ultimate convenience; our way of life would change drastically without it. Instead of working to convince people that they don’t “need” things, maybe we should spend more time and resources on developing technology that will create energy without side effects. Fusion energy holds that potential, and it’s the same energy our sun broadcasts into space every day.

Replicating the process behind fusion is tricky, but seeing the environment repeatedly polluted by oil hopefully is opening some purses. There is some hope for fusion, a new program called “ITER is a collaboration between the U.S., Europe, Japan, South Korea, Russia, China and India. It plans a fusion project larger than anything the world has ever seen,” via NPR. Building it costs $17 billion, and not everyone agrees it’s the best way to pursue sustainable energy. The sun is certainly compelling evidence of what we could achieve though!

Fusion involves melding hydrogen atoms together, but that takes a lot of precision because each atom is positively charged so naturally they repel each other. ITER is aiming to reduce its incredible expense by generating 500 megawatts of power, which is 10 times what it uses.

Hopefully that project generates some breakthroughs. Residents in Battle Creek, the Gulf of Mexico, the animals coated in oil, the and waterways choked with oil sludge would probably agree, it’s time to accelerate our move toward renewable energy.