Since our planet has a huge need for energy. Also our planets fossil fuels are not expected to last much longer,

Question: Since our planet has a huge need for energy. Also our planets fossil fuels are not expected to last much longer, moreover nuclear energy sources are not expected to last much longer after them if we them become dependant on nuclear energy sources. In total it is estimated that we may only have 60 years of any sort of non-renuable energy sources. Due to the fact that no current renuable energy sources seem to be able to completely satisfy our thirst for energy the only energy source in the future which may be able to do this will be hot fusion. Do you believe that Hot Fusion is a viable energy source and if so do you believe that we will be efficientely able to harness its energy before we run out of other energy sources.
- Keywords:
  energy,
  fossil,
  fusion,
  nuclear,
  planet,
  renewable
Asked by jabbathepizzahut to Ben, Clare, Ezzy, Mario, Sam on 15 Mar 2012. This question was also asked by kassamfi, theprech1017.
- Mario Campanelli answered on 9 Mar 2012:
  
  The bad news is that hot fusion has still many technical problems to solve, some of whom may be impossible to solve, we do not know yet.
  I am really puzzled and scared to see how little we care about the energy problem in the future, and how few resources are dedicated to it. Also nuclear fusion is underfunded, and we prefer to spend many more resources to make war to get the last drops of oil. Even the most optimistic supporters of fusion say that it won’t be commercially viable before at least 50 years, so much after the end of fossil fuels. Yes, it is a big problem, and I think the current economic crisis is very much correlated to the rising oil prices. So far the only way is save energy as much as possible, and push on the renewables, while we still have some oil to build, for instance solar panels. And of course invest in more research. But before that we need to realise how serious the problem is, and you seem to do that more than our politicians.
- Ben Smart answered on 10 Mar 2012:
  
  I’ve got to admit, Mario nailed it with that answer. Fusion isn’t going to be a viable power source for quite a long time yet, and there is a very real chance that we will run out of fossil fuels before then. I did type out a long answer to this question, but it just became a rant about what’s wrong with society and the world today, so I deleted it. I suspect that it will take something major to change the worlds views on energy resources. Skyrocketing oil prices being the likely thing to set it off. I just hope that when that happens that the leaders of the world then will have the sense to look for real solutions and not just go to war over the remaining resources.
- Elizabeth Pearson answered on 11 Mar 2012:
  
  It is a real problem. There are plenty of alternatives that exist or are being researched, but most are either still very far off or incapable of producing the amounts of energy we need. Most likely in the next few years their are going to be a lot of controversial energy sources coming out, like nuclear power stations.
  
  But it’s not just about making more energy. We need to cut down our energy consumption as well. Not only do we have to make things more efficient, we have to use it less as well. That’s going to be the tricky bit.
- Sam Vinko answered on 12 Mar 2012:
  
  Fusion is a great idea and seems like a ‘get out of jail free card’ for our energetic woes, promising abundant cheap energy. Thats why many people like myself are working on it and find it such an important research topic. But although few doubt we’ll get there eventually, a commercially viable fusion power plant is probably still decades in the future.
  
  This is in no small part due to the lack of funding in fusion research. Burning oil or gas, however bad and shortsighted it may seem, is still an incredibly cheap way of making energy, and power plants which burn fossil fuels are also very cheap to build. So sadly things will probably have to get worse before governments are forced to put their money where their mouth is regarding alternative energy.
  
  On the bright side, there is a lot of hope that the National Ignition Campaign (https://lasers.llnl.gov/about/missions/energy_for_the_future/) will be able to achieve fusion burn – creating a small star – by fusing two hydrogen isotopes within the next year or so, so watch this spot! Although its not a design suitable to become a commercial reactor, it would be a fantastic step in the right direction.
- Clare Burrage answered on 15 Mar 2012:
  
  I don’t know as much about fusion as the other guys here, but I do know that we can’t rely on it to solve our energy problems in the future. We have to make sure that we’re cutting down on our energy use, and harnessing other forms of energy to be sure that we’re not going to destroy our planet.