More Helion Energy news....

Point out news stories, on the net or in mainstream media, related to polywell fusion.

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mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

I want to say some more about why Utilities (their institutional investors, their state regulator boards, utility CEO's & boards ) need an unbelievable amount of heads up for planning. They need as much information as the biggest Fusion company investor needs because of what is committed in their planning. TRUST issue is huge. The Fusion is always 20 years in the future is a TRUST issue. NO ONE in the Utility industry will commit what is needed to make Fusion part of their plans unless the TRUST issue is FIXED.

Issues utilities (Inst inv, reg brds, CEO's)
Real estate planning
Zoning
Site selection
Maint of plant planning
How plants are operated today
Grid plans
Education needs
The list above is not exhaustive
Then customer decisions are not even included and customers make 30 year investments themselves.

It is imperative that Trust in Fusion is reclaimed. NOW
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

I am disappointed in the IEEE publication Spectrum
https://spectrum.ieee.org/general-fusio ... sion-power
They did not even get the fact that the site for the Utility scale demo plant has been selected. Then they act as if the proof needed for huge private money to be spent has not been shown in hardware when in fact it has.

What does it take for the idiot journalists to get it through their heads that this is not maybe, might, hope, if, could, possibly, or any other language of doubt. A demo plant is built not to see if, it is to shove it down the throats of the blind.

And I like Helion better.
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

daveklingler
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by daveklingler »

mvanwink5 wrote:
Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:39 pm
I am disappointed in the IEEE publication Spectrum
https://spectrum.ieee.org/general-fusio ... sion-power
They did not even get the fact that the site for the Utility scale demo plant has been selected.
Hm. I don't want to disagree with you but I didn't get any sense of negativity out of that article. Pretty much the opposite, in fact.

What I really want is for someone to hand Jaeyoung Park $50M so he can build his demonstrator.

mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

Yes, negativity though is a relative term. The fusion companies are past the 'science', and indeed, past the critical engineering issues and are in the building it stage, digging dirt, pouring steel phase. By not shedding light on where fusion is the reader is left thinking 'maybe', 'might', 'could', 'hope', 'possible' all which inherently include 'might not', which is not the case.

Fusion is coming and the hardware will be built, many within the next 4 years. Utilities need to be planning on fusion, not planning on thinking about it if it happens. The issues are what are the economics $/GW capacity, site planning, conversion of boilers to fusion heat plants vs direct conversion, etc.

Moreover, decisions are being made to retire fossil plants and install expensive wind, solar, and battery and those economic decisions are in play right now and should be reconsidered.
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

For Helion, fusion development really is done. What Helion needs is the manufacturing expertise to bring it to market...fast. Musk is making a mistake betting on solar and batteries. Someone at Helion needs to sell him, give him the real facts, get him to bring Helion's fusion to commercial. IMO...
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

ltgbrown
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by ltgbrown »

"Musk is making a mistake betting on solar and batteries."

Perhaps he is betting on decentralization versus centralization of the power grid. Batteries are, for the foreseeable future, required for transitioning away from fossil fuels for vehicular transportation (maybe planes and small boats/ships). Solar panels allow off the grid living, especially when combined with a large battery pack.

Helion's and the others' fusion power plants are all too big, complicated and potentially dangerous (although now where near the level of current nuclear and fossil fuel power plants) to support highly decentralized power grids. Ida, the Texas freeze and multiple other natural disasters show the fragility of centralized power production with large distribution grids. It just might make more sense to decentralize the power grid for residential and small business and use fusion power plants to support industrial, high density urban areas and large scale transportation. In that scenario, solar is likely a trillion dollar business. :wink:
Famous last words, "Hey, watch this!"

mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

Good thoughts, no one solution fits all needs.

For example, Northeast has trees, snow, cold, significantly less daylight in winter, all of which run contrary to solar and batteries. Further, dense population centers are where most power consumption takes place. So, yes, solar and batteries may find their uses, but the dominant power needs are ideal for fusion even small business and residential.

Insofar as safety goes, GF does not use superconductors, so their plant is essentially as safe as a steam power plant, and perhaps safer. I am unsure about Helion and TAE, but neither has the massive superconductors that the Tokamaks employ, so loss of magnet coolant is likely not an issue there either. So, I am unsure what the safety concerns are.

On the other hand, batteries are not immune to safety concerns and solar is frequently in hard to get to locations (roof tops), and making power production more decentralized does not eliminate safety issues, just makes safety breakdowns less dramatic and likely more frequent.

So, I dunno, six of one, vs half dozen. But yes, there will be a market for solar and batteries, but it is not the one solution fits all that it is being sold as. And I am not cutting my trees down. :D
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

Skipjack
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by Skipjack »

Helion's generator does not need cryogenic magnets of any kind. Just plain copper. Because of that their startup times will be very quick, which is great if they want to replace gas peakers.
As for solar + batteries. The big problem with that is the batteries. They are (still) expensive. What is worse though is the fact that there are simply not enough of them getting built.

mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

Helion's generator does not need cryogenic magnets of any kind. Just plain copper. Because of that their startup times will be very quick, which is great if they want to replace gas peakers.
Thank you. That is what I remembered, but was uncertain about the next machine. That is super news.
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

Batteries for storing bulk power is a scam. Folks have no idea how much energy storage is needed for non daylight hours. It is absurd to imagine batteries for that, which is why wind is supposed to help, but weather can make wind too unreliable. Hydro is wonderful but there it is insufficient for all but a few places due to the need for large elevation changes and the need for plentiful water.

Fusion or Fission are the only non fossil sources great enough to replace fossil. Fusion will be here shortly as you know.
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

Skipjack
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by Skipjack »

I don't think it is a scam but it is just impractical. We would need 100 times the battery production rate. That just seems unlikely to happen any time soon.

mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

You are being kind. Fusion will be here far faster than admitted, and there is no reason for these folks NOT to know that. You know that, I know it, if we know it there is no way it isn't known. This is well past 'maybe'. Too many behind the scenes agendas, politics, vested interests, who can know what all of them are...
Fusion will in the end rule the wires.
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

Skipjack
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by Skipjack »

You would be surprised. I have a beer bet going with a physicist, who does not believe that fusion will be ready any time soon. The usual "we got that big fusion reactor in the sky" argument...

mvanwink5
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by mvanwink5 »

"You would be surprised. I have a beer bet going with a physicist, who does not believe that fusion will be ready any time soon. The usual "we got that big fusion reactor in the sky" argument..."
:lol:
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

RERT
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Re: More Helion Energy news....

Post by RERT »

The ‘just plain copper’ remark above was interesting. What might be possible with HTSC? What fraction of the 5% unrecovered power might be saved?

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