Mission
PowerRFuture™ in partnership with its sponsors EnergyCite & USCL’s mission is to create a ubiquitous awareness of the value of energy, the recognition that energy obtained from fusion is the only solution to man’s need for large scale, clean, inexpensive and inexhaustible energy, and the skillful management of the scientific research and development of fusion leading to the commercialization of fusion power production systems through financial resources generated by the EnergyCite® consortium, composed of energy utility companies, technology providers, and utility customers nationwide.
Purpose
The purpose of the PowerRFuture™ web site is to provide the public and its policy makers with education & enlightenment on the most serious issue confronting man, and yet is not currently being discussed let alone addressed. That is correctly solving energy beyond fossil fuel depletion. The site frames the problem in a manner no other site or institute has. We show how the AGW or climate change scare has driven the green energy industries and primarily solar based on tens of billions of dollars of subsidies and green energy philanthropic funds. We incontrovertibly show why solar, wind, biofuels and the like can only supply 4% of world energy requirements by 2050. We explain the energy solution…without pollution… based on plasma physics and the successful demonstration of controlled fusion.
Need
- By mid-century 90% of our electrical generation capacity must be replaced due to power plant age; by 2035 we must build 60 billion Watts of new 24 hour a day 365 day per year generating stations. If we do nothing wide spread periodic blackouts will be frequent.
- The only practical means to generate this huge amount of power is with nuclear, coal, and natural gas fired plants. Collectively, all of todays can only contribute a few percent of these amounts.
- It takes 10 years to approve, license and permit a power plant and another 10 years to build one, test it, and make it operational.
- In the 1970’s ERDA, the predecessor to the U.S. Department of Energy saw this coming and proposed to develop a new form of ultra-safe, clean green power by 1995. In 1980 President Carter signed the Magnetic Fusion Energy Engineering Act to complete this; in 1985 it was scrapped by agreement with Russia.
- Failure to address this head on immediately jeopardizes not only America’s national security but the nation’s financial well being and “superpower” status. The future of our children and grandchildren depend on us to act responsibly today.
Benefits of Fusion
- No more wars fought over oil and gas, and breaking Islamic strength that comes from oil money.
- Unlimited and less expensive energy without pollution, mining or drilling.
- Less poverty and disease because of abundant energy in areas without power before. The proposed fusion power stations will be small enough to be placed in remote areas.
- Clean water in the desert and poor areas because desalinization of ocean and brackish water will become practical on a large scale.
Goals
- Development & deployment of our energy resources video game series
- Deployment of millions of the EnergyCite® in-home energy monitor modules
- Organization of an industry consortium for utility companies, energy companies like coal and oil, defense contractors, and home-automation product companies including thermostat and control makers
- Development of the EnergyCite® media network to bring science and energy media content to everyone
- Partnerships with national labs such as LANL, LLNL, Sandia Labs, and an overseas partner to “down select” fusion concepts and put teams together under a centralized cohesive management structure
- Implementation of a set of milestones with large prizes granted as was suggested by Dr. Bussard in 1995
- Manage the challenge to successfully demonstrate world’s first sustained net positive gain fusion reaction within a decade.
18 Indispensible Details
- By 2035 we need to build another 60 gigawatts of electrical generating capacity to maintain parity with what we have today due to old plants being retired. A significant number of electric vehicles and the partial electrification of the transportation industry will easily double this requirement.
- This requires 60 new one gWh plants to be built. One gWh is one billion Watts of electricity per hour being generated 24 hours a day when needed, 365 days per week.
- This can only be done with today’s nuclear, coal, or natural gas generating plants.
- Of the frequently discussed “renewable or green” energy sources, none are capable of supplying this amount of power.
- To build 60 gWh of 24/7/365 power from PV solar only requires 3.98 billion one square meter solar panels and would require over 125 years to manufacture
- 29.3 Billion one square meter solar panels are required for 100% solar power
- If 1 square meter PV panels were manufactured at the rate of 1 per second, it would take 929 years to manufacture 29.3 billion panels
- The cost of a solar only approach exceeds $15.27 trillion
- To meet all energy demands for transportation, industrial, and commercial-agriculture would require 176 billion solar panels and 5,574 years to produce
- Increases in “solar cell efficiency” have little impact on land area to produce utility scale power
- Our energy needs require us to develop fusion power over the next 25 years because by 2060 all of today’s electrical generating capacity is retired due to plant age.
- We could replace our entire 440gWh with 215 nuclear plants located on old existing power plans at a total cost of $537.5 billion dollars. These new plants would have a life expectancy of 60 years. However current fission nuclear power suffers huge public perception problems which would only lead to costly public policy & legal delays and corporate shareholder problems.
- Once demonstrated and tested it takes years to test, perfect, and commercialize new plant technologies and construction techniques.
- It also takes time to replace installed infrastructure in mature countries.
- If this is not done, the only solution is huge population reductions all over the world due to lack of energy and resources. This would create a very bleak outlook for future generations.
- Little fusion energy work has been done in the U.S. since the “Glory Days” in the mid 1970-1980s.
- In 1985 by agreement with the newly emerging Russia, the US gave up is civilian fusion efforts.
- Today the U.S. government is funding a very small fusion budget for programs and projects which are a direct part of the U.S. international obligations based on our 9% partnership with ITER as described at https://www.iter.org