With the pressing need to address climate and energy crises, a diverse range of clean energy technologies is essential to transition away from fossil fuels and mitigate climate change.
While renewable energy sources have made significant strides, they have not yet achieved the scalability needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions while meeting global energy demands. Nuclear energy is a much-needed option, offering clean baseload energy to supplement renewables, and with the world's escalating demand for energy, the more options we have, the more resilient we are.
Fusion, the process that powers the sun, presents an alternative nuclear energy approach that could offer a safe, abundant, and environmentally friendly solution.
However, traditional hot fusion, which requires extreme temperatures and pressures to initiate and sustain fusion reactions, has faced significant technical challenges and remains uncertain in terms of commercial viability within the next decade.
A possible shortcut to conventional fusion lies in Solid-State Fusion (SSF), a budding field that is rapidly gaining attention as a potential solution for global clean energy demands. SSF involves nuclear reactions occurring in the solid phase of matter, releasing heat in excess of the input energy.
Unlike hot fusion, SSF does not require extreme temperatures, and unlike nuclear fission, SSF does not require radioactive elements like uranium or plutonium, making it a safer and more sustainable energy option.
Foundational Understanding of SSF
Solid-State Fusion encompasses various nuclear reactions (fusion, fission, transmutation, beta decay, alpha decay) that occur in the solid-state, including condensed phases that are not strictly solid. It is crucial to clarify SSF from related terms like "cold fusion" and "low energy nuclear reactions (LENR).”
Cold fusion gained media attention in 1989 when electrochemists Drs. Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons announced a sustained nuclear fusion reaction at room temperature. However, subsequent skepticism from the scientific community led to the term becoming associated with dubious science.
LENR is a broader term adopted by many practitioners in the field, covering various nuclear reactions that occur at low energies. SSF encompasses both cold fusion and LENR, focusing on nuclear reactions in the solid-state.
SSF Milestones and Developments
SSF research dates back to the 1980s when various groups reported observations of excess heat in metal-hydrogen systems. In 1989, the announcement by Fleischmann and Pons led to intense criticism, overshadowing private efforts in SSF development that continued over the following decades.
More recently, a consortium of researchers led by Google conducted SSF experiments over five years, resulting in a publication in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. Although the paper did not conclusively prove SSF, it legitimized the field and attracted greater scientific, investment, and government interest.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has also recognized the potential of SSF and issued a $10 million project through its Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) program to fund researchers from multiple universities to conduct SSF research.
SSF Process and Energy Production
SSF experiments typically involve metal catalysts and isotopes of hydrogen. Researchers use various techniques, including calorimetry, ICP-MS for elemental analysis, and neutron detection, to measure heat production, transmutations, and nuclear emissions.
The origin of excess heat in SSF is still a subject of investigation. While some mass is converted into energy, the exact mechanisms and whether the process is fusion, fission, or a combination of both remain uncertain.
SSF's Safety and Commercial Potential
As of now, SSF research experiments have not shown any unsafe radiation or radioactive products. Neutrons, gamma radiation, and other hazardous elements have not been detected in SSF experiments, suggesting a safe and waste-free pathway to energy generation.
While excess heat has been plausibly demonstrated in various SSF experiments, decisive evidence of a nuclear reaction and the ability to self-power or produce useful electrical energy are yet to be publicly shown.
Nonetheless, significant funding, both from governments and private investors, has been allocated for SSF development, indicating its potential as a viable energy source.
SSF's Commercial Applications and Ongoing Research
SSF holds promise for various commercial applications, including boilers, chemical and metal processing industries, direct air capture for carbon removal, agriculture, and power generation.
The technology has attracted investments from a major boiler company in Japan and continues to garner interest from various research institutions, government bodies, and private industry players worldwide.
SSF is an exciting area of research at the forefront of understanding how matter works at the nanoscopic and quantum levels. The potential to confine nucleons to enable fusion or transmutation of elements and release usable heat energy holds significant promise.
Researchers from diverse disciplines, including materials science, quantum physics, electrochemistry, nano-science, nuclear and electrical engineering, and more, are essential to unlock the full potential of SSF.
In conclusion, Solid-State Fusion emerges as a viable contender in the pursuit of a global clean energy economy. With its potential for safe, clean, and inexpensive energy production, SSF presents a pathway to address our climate and energy challenges.
As the field continues to evolve, further scientific exploration and investment will be critical to unlock the full potential of this promising technology.
To learn more about the potential for safe fusion energy systems, click below!
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Is more energy really what we need? Give the consequences a second thought! Listen to The Scorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas, inspired by the ballad Der Zauberlehrling by Goethe. Less (energy) is More (hope for the planet)!
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@kenneth_arnelof if you don’t want to eat, be warm in winter and cool in summer and you don’t want to go anywhere ever then you might not need energy.
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"More recently, a consortium of researchers led by Google conducted SSF experiments over five years, resulting in a publication in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. Although the paper did not conclusively prove SSF, it legitimized the field and attracted greater scientific, investment, and government interest." This would be interesting if you actually gave a REFERENCE to such a paper. I have been unable to find it in Nature. The whole "cold fusion" debacle has ruined the careers of many physicists who were unable to resist the temptation of "atheoretical" belief in the Holy Grail of cold fusion. Since its debunking, true believers have renamed it several times, hoping that LENR or SSF might not draw instant eye-rolling from the Infidels. Shame on you for perpetuating this mythology!
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@jess_h_brewer here is the reference. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1256-6 FYI, NASA, DOE, USNavy, USArmy, MIT, UTexas, and more have published positive results at this year’s ICCF25 conference. https://iccf25.com/conf-data/iccf-25/files/ICCF25-detailed%20programme(1).pdf Please take a look at who is presenting and I suspect this should be sufficient evidence for you to change your mind.
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There have also been huge investments in research that has been curtailed for lack of actionable results. We HAVE a fusion reactor. At a safe distance. It's called 'sun'. Let's make the most of it.
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interesting
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Well articulated