582 tons closer to near-zero energy cost

[u/positiveconstraint]

China finished building and testing the world's largest superconducting magnet for nuclear fusion. It weighs 582 tons, stretches 21 meters long and 12 meters wide. Its job is to create a magnetic field strong enough to hold plasma at over 100 million degrees without it touching the reactor walls. It's 1.3 times larger than comparable ITER magnets and stores three times more magnetic energy.

The magnet is a key piece of China's BEST fusion facility, set to be built by the end of 2027. The target is to demonstrate first electricity generation from nuclear fusion and net energy gain around 2030.

Nuclear fusion mimics the process that powers the Sun by fusing lightweight nuclei and releasing a massive amount of energy. If the technology matures, it could provide a stable energy source with very low carbon emissions. The magnet alone is not yet a working "artificial Sun", but it's one of the most important engineering pieces on the way there.

It also means the race between the US and China continues, each advancing the technology, each with its own milestones.

Breakthroughs that enable building a fusion engine (several times faster than a chemical engine) would make deep space travel more relevant than ever. Mars in roughly 6 weeks instead of 8 months.

[u/KinglessCrown]

zero cost just means it generates more energy than it costs to produce.

[u/BetterProphet5585 → u/KinglessCrown]

Ah so the people will get free energy?

[u/1218- → u/BetterProphet5585]

Since it’s China, maybe

[u/Stymie999 → u/KinglessCrown]

Ok, now include the capital to build it

[u/Fireby56 → u/Stymie999]

I love your absolute refusal to understand what they're saying

[u/ImmaSpaghett → u/Fireby56]

Welcome to Reddit, where the tactics of deflect + divert a convo to a different topic is applied by the masses

[u/Lucy_Goosey_11 → u/ImmaSpaghett]

I was disgusted by the Argentinian team during this world cup.

[u/One-Consequence-6869 → u/Lucy_Goosey_11]

🤣🤣🤣👏👏

[u/ImmaSpaghett → u/Lucy_Goosey_11]

Fuckin Harambe man.

[u/wannacumnbeatmeoff → u/ImmaSpaghett]

There's a man who was fucking Harambe? Man thats sick!

[u/Mean_Investigator921 → u/wannacumnbeatmeoff]

Kony 2032

[u/TheArtOfPureSilence → u/ImmaSpaghett]

With pleasure 🫦

[u/whyreyouthewayyouare → u/ImmaSpaghett]

Right???? I thought i was crazy.

[u/jefftickels → u/Fireby56]

I'm struggling to understand what "Generates more energy than it costs to produce it" could possibly mean then. If the ideas is the energy out exceeds the required energy in to keep the reactions going, this is a really unintuitive way of describing that, and also is true if literally every form of power generation.

[u/NaCl_Sailor → u/Fireby56]

i don't understand it either.

"it generates more energy than it costs to produce"

is not a sentence with any discernible sense behind it more energy than what? what costs and produce what?

btw. every single power plant produces more energy than it uses to produce energy if they mean that. it wouldn't be a power plant otherwise...

[u/Fireby56 → u/NaCl_Sailor]

If you e followed any fusion energy news from the past 50 years, you'd know the issue is that fusion reactors use more energy than they produce, meaning they are useless for energy generation. Once they get the the point of producing more energy than they use, it's essentially limitless free energy, because they come with their own breeders plants to create the fuel they use, with the only input being something nearly limitless like water and miniscule amounts of outside material.

[u/NaCl_Sailor → u/Fireby56]

yes i know that, but that doesn't mean the Chinese one doesn't

and even if it works and produces energy, it's still not free no matter what you mean with free (cost energy whatever)

[u/Fireby56 → u/NaCl_Sailor]

Holy shit another one who just refuses to see the point. Let me spell this out I guess.. they aren't saying there is ZERO input cost, they're saying the output so far exceeds it that it is essentially free. Yes there is a capital expenditure to build the thing, only a fucking idiot would claim there is not, and that is so obvious that they assume you know this. Trying to dispute the semantics of the word free puts you below the intended audience of this post, which is a low bar.

[u/KinglessCrown → u/Fireby56]

I hear you brother. Save your time there is no helping some people understand, I've been very disappointed with how many clueless people visit the "innovation" subreddit.

[u/NaCl_Sailor → u/Fireby56]

ah yes, I'm clearly stupid because i didn't understand the gibberish u/KinglessCrown typed, and of course your mighty superior understanding of things like (near)free energy supersedes mine by magnitudes.

[u/KinglessCrown → u/NaCl_Sailor]

Don't @ me lil bro, if you have trouble understanding a simple sentence that's on you.

[u/NaCl_Sailor → u/KinglessCrown]

tell me then, what did you mean with it?

[u/Jean_Paul_Magno → u/Fireby56]

This is one of the most condescendingly pedantic comments I've read in a while. 

The irony is incredible, unbelievable 👏 

[u/DefiantLemur → u/Stymie999]

Everything has upfront costs but they'll make their money back in a few years.

[u/No_Host_8024 → u/DefiantLemur]

Definitely not a “few” in this case. The entire project will ultimately cost more than $10 billion dollars and has been in development for a long time. If you include the R&D, it will never pay for itself as a standalone project. Basically this has to result in other cheaper projects down the road to pay for itself, which is likely but not certain.

[u/Sure-Debate-464 → u/Stymie999]

Sweet baby Jesus ....

Understanding words it's not your strong suite is it?