I had this thought several years ago and it could not be more timely than today. I was lying in bed thinking about the idea of peace in the world..Many conversations come to mind that I've had in the past with friends and family etc. and the common thread lately seems to involve the idea of energy. As in someone comes up with a solution or should I say an alternative to fossil fuel energy..Could you imagine vehicles that run without any trace of pollution? Homes of all shapes and sizes that are warm in the colder months and cool in the warmer months. Or how about just being able to turn on a light where they don’t have lights? Or fresh clean water brought up from the depths of the Earth using an alternative clean fuel source. And all this at a reasonable price … or maybe even free. Sounds like a recipe for peace to me or at least a catalyst for the road to peace..Well, it could happen but I won’t be holding my breath..The good old U.S. of A. just announced it has made a breakthrough in the realm of nuclear fusion. For those who've not been exactly enthralled with the current advances in science, nuclear fission is the splitting of atoms and harnessing the resultant energy. This process has been going on for decades with the end result of having radioactive spent fuel rods that now need to be disposed of..Nuclear fusion on the other hand, is when two or more atoms — typically hydrogen and helium — are fused together resulting in an energy discharge. The problem with fusion is more input energy has always been required than the amount of output energy gained..But apparently, for the first time ever, scientists have been able to get more energy out than the amount put in. In its simplest terms, they put in an energy amount of one and were able to harness an amount that was greater than one. This is no small feat as the first Law of Thermodynamics basically states you can only change energy from one form to another and that change results in an energy loss … you can’t get out more than you put in..Let’s assume these scientists have actually done the impossible and haven’t simply been hitting the eggnog a little too soon or little too much..What the announcement doesn’t explain fully is the cost of this process, which in and of itself could be a deal breaker. What I would then like to know is if the U.S. and its partners are going to share this technology with the world or will they maybe hold them hostage for a downgraded version of it?.I mean Russia, China, North Korea and others are currently not playing by the rules of the sandbox. One would wonder if those countries are even capable of using and sharing such a wonderful breakthrough for the good of their own people. One simply needs to read the daily news in order to see that these absolute dictatorships are running and ruining the lives of their own people..But then again what if? What if the world could transition to a clean and cheap alternative to fossil fuels? Could we attain peace? It’s a long shot but I guess it depends on who this peace would depend on..If the big guy upstairs is involved, then I have all the confidence in the world. If not, then not so much. Until then I will simply be thankful for the blessings of our abundant fossil fuels and my warm little wood-burning fireplace.
I had this thought several years ago and it could not be more timely than today. I was lying in bed thinking about the idea of peace in the world..Many conversations come to mind that I've had in the past with friends and family etc. and the common thread lately seems to involve the idea of energy. As in someone comes up with a solution or should I say an alternative to fossil fuel energy..Could you imagine vehicles that run without any trace of pollution? Homes of all shapes and sizes that are warm in the colder months and cool in the warmer months. Or how about just being able to turn on a light where they don’t have lights? Or fresh clean water brought up from the depths of the Earth using an alternative clean fuel source. And all this at a reasonable price … or maybe even free. Sounds like a recipe for peace to me or at least a catalyst for the road to peace..Well, it could happen but I won’t be holding my breath..The good old U.S. of A. just announced it has made a breakthrough in the realm of nuclear fusion. For those who've not been exactly enthralled with the current advances in science, nuclear fission is the splitting of atoms and harnessing the resultant energy. This process has been going on for decades with the end result of having radioactive spent fuel rods that now need to be disposed of..Nuclear fusion on the other hand, is when two or more atoms — typically hydrogen and helium — are fused together resulting in an energy discharge. The problem with fusion is more input energy has always been required than the amount of output energy gained..But apparently, for the first time ever, scientists have been able to get more energy out than the amount put in. In its simplest terms, they put in an energy amount of one and were able to harness an amount that was greater than one. This is no small feat as the first Law of Thermodynamics basically states you can only change energy from one form to another and that change results in an energy loss … you can’t get out more than you put in..Let’s assume these scientists have actually done the impossible and haven’t simply been hitting the eggnog a little too soon or little too much..What the announcement doesn’t explain fully is the cost of this process, which in and of itself could be a deal breaker. What I would then like to know is if the U.S. and its partners are going to share this technology with the world or will they maybe hold them hostage for a downgraded version of it?.I mean Russia, China, North Korea and others are currently not playing by the rules of the sandbox. One would wonder if those countries are even capable of using and sharing such a wonderful breakthrough for the good of their own people. One simply needs to read the daily news in order to see that these absolute dictatorships are running and ruining the lives of their own people..But then again what if? What if the world could transition to a clean and cheap alternative to fossil fuels? Could we attain peace? It’s a long shot but I guess it depends on who this peace would depend on..If the big guy upstairs is involved, then I have all the confidence in the world. If not, then not so much. Until then I will simply be thankful for the blessings of our abundant fossil fuels and my warm little wood-burning fireplace.
