# Is Fusion Power Going to Happen? Or Should We Just Hang It Up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 29, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938 "2009-12-29T19:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/61 "2013-02-25T19:26:40Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > If we ever get to the point where a reliable design with these capabilities is rolling off an assembly line we could start terraforming deserts with them. :dubious: And meddle with established desert ecosystems? Think twice. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/62 "2013-02-25T19:35:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :dubious: And meddle with established desert ecosystems? Think twice. Look pal I just want to put back a little of what your goats ate, take it easy. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/63 "2013-02-25T20:56:31Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Garbage is virtually all recyclable, or can be turned into energy through pyrolysis. We just need to recycle everything or turn it into fuel through burning. Here in Minneapolis, we do that. All the garbage is either recycled or burned to produce energy. Even the ashes are sold as farming fertilizer. Now they want to expand the capacity of that, but people are opposing it, saying the smoke is polluting. So they want to shut it down completely. Thus sending the garbage back to landfills, with pollution leaking into the ground water, and flowing down the Mississippi River to pollute all the states downriver. If they were smarter, these people would encourage expansion of the incinerator, provided that they also upgraded the pollution controls on the smokestacks. It’s a lot easier to control the pollution from one smokestack than from dozens of leaky landfills scattered all over. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/64 "2013-02-25T21:31:57Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > I really want this to be true. If we ever get to the point where a reliable design with these capabilities is rolling off an assembly line we could start terraforming deserts with them. It could solve many of our biggest problems. > > But this doesn’t mean it is feasible. How do we decide what portion of our resources to invest in uncertain but potentially trans-formative technologies at the expense of fission systems proven to be able to provide clean base load power, and other proven means of mitigating our energy dilemma, such as improvements in efficiency? It kinda seems like a poor person deciding how much of their income to spend on a mystery lottery that they don’t know the odds of winning. See, we could transform our deserts right now with our wonderful fission technology that provides unlimited energy. Unfortunately, it isn’t cheap and there doesn’t seem to be anything about fusion that would make it cheaper. A tabletop Mr. Fusion would be nice, but why don’t we already have a Mr. Fission on our tabletops? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/65 "2013-02-25T21:33:47Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And if my grandma had wheels, she would be a streetcar. :o Ermm, pardon me, **Fear,** your grandmother does have wheels and they don’t call her a streetcar, they call her “Rollerblade Adelaide.” I’d best say no more. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/66 "2013-02-25T21:34:06Z")
Proprietary technology doesn’t burn it in an incinerator, but goes through a Fischer–Tropsch process and turns any organic waste into bio-diesel. The Fischer–Tropsch process has been around since before WWII, but there are various methods to make it more efficient, and the byproduct is not CO2, but rather carbon black, which is sell-able. No direct air pollution as it is self-contained. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/67 "2013-02-25T21:35:35Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Proprietary technology doesn’t burn it in an incinerator, but goes through a Fischer–Tropsch process and turns any organic waste into bio-diesel. The Fischer–Tropsch process has been around since before WWII, but there are various methods to make it more efficient, and the byproduct is not CO2, but rather carbon black, which is sell-able. No direct air pollution as it is self-contained. > **[Fischer–Tropsch process](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer%E2%80%93Tropsch_process)** > > The Fischer–Tropsch process (FT) is a collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, known as syngas, into liquid hydrocarbons. These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts, typically at temperatures of 150–300 °C (302–572 °F) and pressures of one to several tens of atmospheres. The Fischer–Tropsch process is an important reaction in both coal liquefaction and gas to liquids technology for producing liquid hydrocarbons. > In the usual implemen... ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/68 "2013-02-25T21:46:36Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > . . . why don’t we already have a Mr. Fission on our tabletops? Well, almost! Does [the SNAP family of generators](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_for_Nuclear_Auxiliary_Power) count? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/69 "2013-02-26T04:52:10Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, here’s hoping. Controlled fusion is one of the three big-idea things I want to see in my lifetime, the other two being a space elevator and **the Republic of Canada.** Of course, you realize that the Republic of Canada is no more than a stop on the way to the New 10 Northern States of the Union. [cue “God Save the Queen”] ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/70 "2013-02-27T05:35:37Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Well, almost! Does [the SNAP family of generators](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_for_Nuclear_Auxiliary_Power) count? Oooh, SNAP! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938/71 "2013-02-27T21:12:07Z")
I want one for my smart-phone! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fusion-power-going-to-happen-or-should-we-just-hang-it-up/522938.md?page=3)