beams

In December, the Department of Energy announced that scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California had achieved a breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology. Fusion is the process by which the sun generates energy. If we had the means to produce nuclear fusion in a controlled fashion, it would be an almost limitless source of clean energy.

Scientists have been trying to develop controllable fusion since the advent of the hydrogen bomb in the 1950s. H-Bombs are basically uncontrollable fusion.

There are massive experiments under development around the work seeking the means to create and control fusion. There are multi-billion-dollar projects such as the ITER tokamak project in southern France, that have been ongoing for decades. Colossal equipment is required to produce the temperatures of millions of degrees needed to fuse hydrogen atoms into helium atoms.

The Livermore project uses 192 powerful laser beams to vaporize a tiny pellet and provide the energy required to initiate fusion. The breakthrough is that the experiment released more energy than the lasers put in. This was the first time a fusion experiment produced a net gain of energy.

Is fusion the solution to de-carbonizing the energy system? Perhaps someday it might be. However, even the most optimistic fusion researchers believe it will be at least another decade before even the experimental fusion systems around the world can reliably produce energy and the efforts will cost untold billions of dollars.

The world cannot wait for fusion power to save the day. The focus must remain on currently available renewable energy technologies if we are to achieve the necessary emission reductions in time to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

**********

Web Links

Can Fusion Solve the Climate Crisis?

Photo, posted July 29, 2010, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Mass timber is a type of construction typically characterized by the use of large solid wood panels for wall, floor, and roof construction. Large structural panels, posts, and beams glued under pressure or nailed together in layers, with the wood’s grain stacked perpendicular for extra strength – are prized as innovative building materials, superior to concrete and steel in many ways. Mass timber has pushed the perceived boundaries of wood construction, leading to building heights and spans that traditionally have required concrete, steel or masonry for structural support. The move to mass timber has become something of a construction revolution and many see it as a significant part of a climate change solution.

The question is just how green is mass timber construction? How sustainable is it in terms of the forest management, logging, manufacture and transportation of wood products involved?

A number of environmental groups are very skeptical. There is not yet comprehensive data on the subject. Only recently have interdisciplinary scientists begun to study the potential climate impacts of the wide use of mass timber.

Despite these questions, the mass timber industry is taking off. Demand for mass timber posts and beams has led to new sawmills opening in the U.S. Northwest and many new jobs for loggers.

The aesthetics and economics of mass timber are both very attractive compared with conventional large-scale construction materials. The real unknowns relate to the environmental impact of its widespread use. If that can take place in a sustainable and environmentally conscientious way, it would be very important in the fight against climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions from the building industry account for more than a third of global emissions, primarily from the concrete and steel industries.

**********

Web Links

As Mass Timber Takes Off, How Green Is This New Building Material?

Photo, posted March 19, 2018, courtesy of Freres Lumber Co via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.