Lochan (Year 9)
Editor’s note: Lochan, now in Year 10, wrote this essay during their time in Year 9. It was submitted into the annual Perse School Aristotelian Essay Prize. Nuclear fusion is a promising energy source with potential to provide unlimited, low-carbon, and clean energy, but significant challenges hinder its immediate viability as a solution to the global energy crisis. CPD
Energy is a resource that is essential to everyone on Earth. Today, whether it is for lighting countless homes and offices, powering vehicles, or manufacturing the food and goods we depend on, the role of energy in our lives is paramount.1 With the world at the epicentre of an energy crisis of unprecedented severity, skyrocketing energy bills and escalating inflation rates are clear indicators that something must be done. It is unquestionable that we must diverge from our unsustainable reliance on fossil fuels, which currently account for 80% of the world’s energy, but how is this possible?2 In response to this significant crisis, a promising solution has made its breakthrough – nuclear fusion. Often described by scientists as the “holy grail” of energy production, nuclear fusion is a type of nuclear reaction that releases immense quantities of energy, without the harmful by-products or the radioactive waste.3 Although still in its infancy, nuclear fusion has the potential to revolutionize the world and save millions of lives through the production of unlimited quantities of low-carbon, low-radiation energy. This reaction process, which is responsible for producing the Sun’s energy, holds unknown potential for the future of energy production. However, can we really regard nuclear fusion as the solution to the world’ s energy crisis?
Since being first developed in the early 20th century, nuclear fusion has gained significant amounts of attention and is now regarded as the “future of energy”; many believe it can solve the world’s energy crisis. This is due to two reasons, with the first being the fact that nuclear fusion produces unlimited quantities of energy, meaning it can meet the world’s energy demands indefinitely. Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine, forming one heavier subatomic particle and releasing immense quantities of energy.4 However, this energy is essentially unlimited as this reaction relies solely on hydrogen, which is abundant and virtually inexhaustible. Already, nuclear fusion can generate four times more energy per kilogram of fuel than nuclear fission and almost four million times more energy than burning oil or coal, all without the harmful by-products or the radioactive waste.5 If nuclear fusion can successfully produce large quantities of energy it will revolutionize energy production, providing unlimited and affordable power to the world and quickly addressing the energy crisis. This makes it, without a doubt, the optimal solution to the world’s energy crisis.
Furthermore, over the past decade, a major priority for energy suppliers has been the future of our planet. Not only does the world need affordable and abundant energy to solve the energy crisis, but it also needs environmentally friendly, sustainable energy sources to mitigate the escalating effects of global warming. Nuclear fusion is perfectly suited for this role, requiring no fuel aside hydrogen and releasing clean energy through the conversion of atomic matter into power. Unlike nuclear fission, which releases radioactive waste and harmful by-products, nuclear fusion produces only helium, which is an extremely inert gas.6 Therefore, nuclear fusion has no contribution to global warming and no negative impact on the environment, making it one of the most environmentally friendly sources of energy. Crucially, contrary to solar power and wind turbines, nuclear fusion is not contingent on weather conditions, offering a continuous and reliable source of energy. To solve the energy crisis, the world needs an energy source that is both efficient and environmentally friendly, producing large quantities of energy without putting the world’s future at further risk. This is exactly why nuclear fusion should be regarded as the solution to the world’s energy crisis.
However, there are three main issues that restrain the potential of nuclear fusion, making it unlikely that it will solve the world’s energy crisis. The first obstacle in this principle is the conditions required to facilitate a reaction. For nuclear fusion to occur, atoms must be heated to extremely high temperatures for them to bind together – these temperatures are far too hot for any existing material or container to handle. To put this into perspective, with every reaction in the California fusion reactor, the centre of the chamber temporarily becomes the hottest place in the solar system, with temperatures exceeding 150 million degrees and reaching 10 times the heat of the Sun.7 Due to these extreme temperatures, scientists must engineer high-temperature magnets and advanced technology that can withstand such heat. However, this technology is extremely complicated to engineer, requiring considerable amounts of time and effort from scientists to facilitate just a single reaction. This significantly restricts the potential of nuclear fusion, making it unlikely that it will be able to produce substantial amounts of energy globally. Therefore, nuclear fusion cannot be regarded as the solution to the world’s energy crisis due to the difficulties in facilitating a reaction.
Secondly, the overwhelming costs of nuclear fusion make it unlikely that it will solve the energy crisis. In order to construct nuclear fusion reactors, such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), advanced technology and significant financial investments are required. Whilst ITER’s initial budget was approximately €6 billion, the total price of construction and operation is now projected at between €18 and €22 billion, with other estimates placing the total cost at between €45 to €65 billion.8 Regardless of the final construction costs, ITER is already the most expensive science project of all time, emphasising the fact that nuclear fusion requires much more capital investment compared to modern energy sources.9 And, assuming the average cost of one wind turbine is $3 million, the funds allocated to ITER had the potential to construct around 8,000 new wind turbines, highlighting the significant financial difference between nuclear fusion and other contemporary energy sources. Not only this, however modelling for nuclear fusion plants reveals that energy costs will be much higher than $150/MWh, which is significantly higher than costs of other renewable sources.10 While it remains a possibility, the sizeable costs of nuclear fusion mean it is not the definitive solution to the energy crisis.
Thirdly, nuclear fusion is not the solution to the world’s energy crisis due to its exceedingly slow development. Despite decades of research by scientists world-wide, it still remains unclear when nuclear fusion will become a widespread energy source, with estimates ranging between 2027 and 2050.11 As stated by Aneeqa Khan, research fellow at the University of Manchester, by the time nuclear fusion is fully developed it would be overtaken by several cheaper renewable energy sources, making it far too late to be used to address climate change.12 Likewise, due to the slow development, it is unlikely that nuclear fusion will be used to address the energy crisis and will be eventually left behind by other renewable sources of energy, which will be developed further in future years. Despite the imminent need for a solution to the energy crisis, it will be decades before nuclear fusion is operational, making it an unsuitable solution to the energy crisis.
In conclusion, I feel that nuclear fusion is not the solution to the world’s energy crisis. Despite the potential of unlimited, affordable, and completely clean energy, I feel that the development of nuclear fusion is inadmissibly slow and the conditions required for reactions significantly limit its feasibility. Moreover, it is unlikely that nuclear fusion is the definitive solution to the world’s energy crisis as it will take decades to become fully developed and operational, although the need for a solution to the energy crisis is already at hand. The costs for construction and energy production are much higher than the ever-decreasing energy costs associated with modern energy sources, and therefore energy through nuclear fusion is much less favourable and less likely to solve the energy crisis.
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