Why we [might] need fusion power:
a) Shipping. Big container ships *can't* be sail-powered (the largest sailing ships ever are about 1% of the size we'd need). But existing marine nuclear power is a proliferation and/or meltdown risk. If we can make a small fusion reactor, we could make our existing global supply chains carbon-neutral.
b) Continuous industrial processes that can't survive a power glitch, much less nighttime on a windless night (no renewables). There are a lot of those.
/1
Charlie Stross /
npub1ya…gla7e
2023-08-07 10:45:27
Author Public Key
npub1yacj26q9parem5fqf2s3ym9xkxghkk0w2jc63aglsnl2fmyhshnszgla7ePublished at
2023-08-07 10:45:27Event JSON
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"content": "Why we [might] need fusion power:\n\na) Shipping. Big container ships *can't* be sail-powered (the largest sailing ships ever are about 1% of the size we'd need). But existing marine nuclear power is a proliferation and/or meltdown risk. If we can make a small fusion reactor, we could make our existing global supply chains carbon-neutral.\n\nb) Continuous industrial processes that can't survive a power glitch, much less nighttime on a windless night (no renewables). There are a lot of those.\n\n/1",
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