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 12:45:27
Author Public Key
npub1yacj26q9parem5fqf2s3ym9xkxghkk0w2jc63aglsnl2fmyhshnszgla7ePublished at
2023-08-07 12:45:27Event JSON
{
"id": "7f8686922b593666211a58fe2502ea52f6d78308a38499b03df071fa03cfa0fe",
"pubkey": "27712568050f479dd1204aa1126ca6b1917b59ee54b1a8f51f84fea4ec9785e7",
"created_at": 1691405127,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://wandering.shop/users/cstross/statuses/110847926407317828",
"activitypub"
]
],
"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",
"sig": "aa4a89b53eb9b25d38a4831926d57a7c8a6915029c90bc6405c8ff96d9d80f37964ef285c49674284524fc58d1284e11b448b5b4b4968b56a003ae67331ca6d1"
}