Is Nuclear Fusion Unlimited & Free Energy

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Nuclear fusion reaction is a combination reaction that fuses two lighter nuclei into a heavier nucleus. Let us focus on whether nuclear fusion is unlimited and free energy or not.

  • Nuclear fusion is unlimited because it emits limitless free energy as the by-product of the chemical reaction. As the nuclear fusion is a cumulative process hence it never gets ended and the production of energy also gets continued.
  • Nuclear fusion energy is clean energy by nature. This is because the energy released from the nuclear fusion in the form of heat is sustainable,clean and safe for the future generations. It does not emit huge quantities of radioactive wastes that can be dangerous to the climate and it does not emit greenhouse gases like other fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases.

Nuclear fusion can generate abundant amounts of carbon neutral energy which is four million times more energy than the energy obtained from the combustion of coal,gas and oil.

550px Evolved star fusion shells.svg
Nuclear fusion image by User: Rursus (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Is Nuclear Fusion Unlimited?

In nuclear fusion two lighter hydrogen atoms are used to fuse into each other in order to get a helium atom along with faster neutrons. Let us know if nuclear fusion is unlimited.

Nuclear fusion is unlimited because the energy released from the deuterium- deuterium cycle is much longer than the existence span of the earth or the lifespan of the sun. An energy amount of 250 x 1015 joules usually gets released from the complete transformation of a deuterium nuclear fuel.

There are 4.6 x 1013 metric tons of deuterium present in the seawater which can yield about 5 x 1011 TW-years of energy. The energy consumption in 2017 is 17 TW-years of energy and the remaining is 29.5 billion years of energy.

Why does fusion release energy?

Nuclear fusion is the source of energy in the sun and the stars. Let us focus on the reason behind the nuclear fusion releasing energy.

Nuclear fusion releases energy because the mass of the product of this reaction(which is a heavier nucleus) is less than the mass of the reactants(the two lighter nuclei) and this excess mass converts into energy according to Einstein’s mass energy equation E= mc2. This energy is liberated in the form of heat energy.

Is nuclear fusion potential or kinetic energy?

Potential energy is stored in an object due to its position of rest whereas kinetic energy is stored by it due to its motion. Let us know if fusion has potential or kinetic energy.

Nuclear fusion has potential energy because the energy which is obtained from the nuclear fusion reaction comes from the stored energy inside the nucleus of an atom. But the released energy helps in producing steam which in turn rotates turbines to generate electricity. Rotation of the turbine signifies kinetic energy.

The potential energy of the nuclear fusion gets transformed into the kinetic energy in the way which is mentioned above.

In this article facts related to “is nuclear fusion  unlimited and free energy” have been discussed in a brief manner. Facts like nuclear fusion releases energy and the energy released from fusion is potential energy by nature which is turned into the kinetic energy during the rotation of the turbine to generate electricity – all these have been described.

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