Nuclear fusion is closer. Eni has signed an agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the construction of the first plant that will produce clean energy thanks to the merger. Nothing to do with nuclear power, as we know it, that is, fission
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Nuclear fusion is closer. Eni has signed an agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the construction of the first plant that will produce clean energy thanks to the merger. Nothing to do with nuclear power, as we know it, that is, fission.
In fact, fusion occurs when the nuclei of two or more atoms are brought close enough to overcome the electromagnetic repulsion. It is the same mechanism that powers the stars, in which all the ingredients of the universe are produced, from helium to uranium.
Fusion involves light elements, such as hydrogen, which shatter together to form heavier elements, such as helium, releasing huge amounts of energy in the process. However, it takes hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius. To get around this, the researchers thought of using magnetic fields to hold the hot plasma - a kind of gaseous soup of subatomic particles - in place - preventing it from coming into contact with any part of the chamber it is in.
The new effort aims to build a compact device capable of generating 100 million watts, or 100 megawatts (MW), of power from fusion. If widely deployed, the power plants thus conceived could meet a substantial part of the world's growing energy needs, drastically reducing the greenhouse gas emissions underlying climate change. Potentially there would be an inexhaustible and clean source of energy.
What role will Eni play?
The company has signed an agreement with Commonwealth Fusion Systems LLC and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the industrial development of fusion power generation technologies. Commonwealth Fusion Systems, born as a spin-out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog, aims to carry out new fusion experiments and build power plants based on advances in high-temperature superconductors. Eni will acquire a stake in CFS to develop the first plant to produce energy.
Three it will be three o'clock phases in which the collaboration will be articulated. First of all we will start from the development of high temperature superconducting magnets, subsequently Eni will participate in the construction of a experimental reactor called Sparc. Finally, in the third and final phase, the first industrial plant capable of continuously producing clean energy through nuclear fusion will be built and put into operation.
Furthermore, Eni has signed an agreement with MIT to carry out research programs on plasma physics, on fusion reactor technologies and on new generation electromagnet technologies.
The project is expected to complement research already initiated by a large international collaboration called ITER, currently under construction in the south of France. If successful, ITER is expected to begin producing fusion energy around 2035.
The Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said: “Today is a very important day for us because, thanks to this agreement, Eni takes a significant step forward towards the development of alternative energy sources with an ever lower environmental impact. Fusion is the true energy source of the future, as it is completely sustainable, it releases neither emissions nor waste, and is potentially inexhaustible. A goal that we at Eni are increasingly determined to achieve in a short time ".
The company, by its own admission, is looking to decarbonisation to respond to the growing energy needs.
"This is an important historical moment: advances in superconducting magnets have potentially put fusion energy within reach, offering the prospect of a safe and carbon-free energy future," says the president of MIT L. Rafael Reif.
Learning to imitate the stars has always been one of man's desires. Now this perspective is getting even closer.
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Francesca Mancuso
