Sustt: The big bang, global storming, plane stupid, full hearted.

5 minute read

THE BIG BANG

Nuclear fusion is starting to heat up??

by Anja Pries (Sustainability Specialist)

What’s happening??Researchers at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have achieved record temperatures of 70 million degrees Celsius in a continuing experiment with the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) nuclear fusion reactor, according to Chinese state media. (The Independent )

Why does this matter??Interest in nuclear fusion technology is – if you'll pardon the pun – warming up. In?October , the UK outlined in a Fusion Green Paper how it would legislate for the safe rollout of fusion energy.?

The sector has also recently seen some serious money thrown at it. In November, Helion?raised ?$500m plus a conditional $1.7bn to further its fusion efforts.?

The EAST reactor running at this high sustained temperature is an important step forward for the technology. The holy grail, however, will be getting more energy out of the reactor than is required to start and maintain the reaction – i.e. boosting the?fusion energy gain factor .??

Nuclear energy doesn’t have the best reputation – it is?expensive , produces hazardous waste and if something goes wrong the consequences can be disastrous. But what if we could get rid of some of the problems and generate endless clean and safe energy? That’s the promise of nuclear fusion – and, as the news from China demonstrates, scientists are finally getting closer to making this a reality.?

How is it different??Today’s nuclear power plants generate energy using?nuclear fission , the process of splitting atom nuclei – typically uranium or plutonium – into smaller parts by bombarding them with neutrons. This releases energy in the form of heat. The procedure, however, must be carefully controlled and produces radioactive waste that needs to be stored in deep geological formations for up to?one million years .

Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, is the process of?forcing atom nuclei together . This happens naturally inside stars like the sun, where small hydrogen atoms merge into large helium atoms. Nuclear fusion also releases energy (have a look at Einstein’s famous equation?E = mc2 ) while generating no direct emissions.?

And what about safety??Nuclear fusion is considered much safer than nuclear fission. It doesn’t create the same waste problem, since its main byproduct is the non-toxic helium, and any radioactive materials produced during the process?quickly lose their activity . Within 100 years, all of them can be recycled. Scientists also say the physics behind the process means it’s inherently safe – if the fuel input is disrupted, the reaction ceases immediately – which makes accidents like Fukushima impossible.?

Why is nuclear fusion so challenging??Although scientists know how nuclear fusion works, they’ve found it very challenging to replicate the process on Earth. The main reason is that atom nuclei consist of protons, which are positively charged and repel each other. To force them together, they have to move very fast in a confined space. The recreation of this process without the gravitational forces of the sun requires temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius.

When could it become available??The success of China’s EAST project is going to inform the work at the $22bn?International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) ?in France, the world’s most advanced nuclear fusion project. The construction of the industrial-scale reactor is based on decade-long cooperation between 35 countries, including the US, China, Russia, India, and EU member states. Expected to be fully operational in 2035, the reactor will heat up plasma inside a doughnut-shaped magnetic chamber and could generate 500 MW out of 50 MW of input energy.??

Meanwhile, projects in other countries are raising hopes nuclear fusion could help solve our energy problems much sooner. In the US, the?SPARC project ?uses a new series of advanced magnets, cutting both costs and weight of fusion reactors. And the Australian research team at?HB11 ?is developing a new technology using lasers instead of high temperatures, which could remove many challenges that have prevented nuclear fusion projects from being realised.?

GLOBAL STORMING

Climate change could drive cyclones to new extremes

by Katie Chan (Sustainability Specialist)

What’s happening??The range of hurricanes and typhoons could expand to affect the earth’s mid-latitude regions due to the impact of global warming on the jet stream, meaning that such events could more frequently impact major cities including Beijing, Boston, New York and Tokyo, according to a study led by Yale University. (Nature Geoscience ,?The Independent )

Why does this matter??The possibility of cyclones reaching areas beyond coastal and tropical regions raises threats to more densely populated areas.

Aside from obvious implications to communities and infrastructure, it’s also worth looking at some of the lesser-considered impacts of storms. Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston in 2017, for instance, resulted in an?estimated ?$90bn in damages. Alongside infrastructure, included in this was?damage ?to up to half a million vehicles, with estimated costs for damaged licensed cars totalling nearly $5bn. And, of course, there's the knock-on impact more severe storms have on the price of?insurance .?

Social costs –?In poorer nations, extreme weather often leads to broader?social implications . For example, the increased frequency and intensity of disasters will displace even larger populations, forcing them to move away from their homes and unfortunately leaving them vulnerable to modern slavery and human trafficking.?

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PLANE STUPID

Empty Lufthansa flights shine light on outdated EU regulation?

by Jamie Ludlow (Energy Specialist)

What’s happening??To prevent losing take-off and landing rights at major airports, Lufthansa has operated 18,000 flights this winter that would normally face cancellation due to low passenger numbers. Lufthansa’s Brussels Airlines has operated 3,000 of these empty journeys, leading the Belgian government to lobby the European Commission to reconsider current rules on flight slots. (The Bulletin )

Why does this matter??Aviation contributes up to 3.5% of humanity’s?climate-warming ?impact and is already considered a complicated sector to decarbonise, with few viable substitutes available to replace aviation fuel. And that’s before the added burden of these “ghost” flights.

Behind the times??Sometimes reasonable socially minded policies make climate action harder. This was highlighted when Deutsche Post?criticised ?a rule mandating that 80% of all letters be delivered overnight in Germany. The rule prevents the courier from delivering more letters by climate-friendlier transport modes like rail in place of existing daily flights between north and south of the country.??

In other climate legislation, the UK’s autumn budget controversially?reduced ?Air Passenger Duty for domestic flights to maintain interregional connectivity. The UK also?subsidises ?some domestic routes on the same basis. Aviation taxes are?already ?less burdensome for British domestic carriers than European counterparts. This is especially problematic?considering ?short-haul flights are especially carbon intensive due to the energy needed for landing and take-off.?

It should be noted, however, that groups representing airports have?contested ?the need for carriers to fly "ghost" flights.?

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FULL HEARTED

Are we on the way to solving the donor organ shortage??

by Nicola Watts (Health Care Specialist)

What's happening??University of Maryland Medical Center doctors have, for the first time, transplanted a heart from a genetically modified pig into a human. David Bennett, 57, had terminal heart failure and an irregular heartbeat when he was chosen to receive the transplant. Bennett is doing well, but it will take time to understand if the transplant has been successful, the doctors said. (The Guardian )?

Why does this matter??There's a?limited number ?of organ donors around the world, so naturally this ground-breaking moment in medical history hit global headlines. It will, however, be some time before we could see this type of type of xenotransplantation become more commonplace.?Ethical issues , such as medical risk, animal rights and religion will also remain.?

Scientists have been working for decades to find ways to successfully use animal organs for human transplants, and advancements in gene editing technologies have pushed this into a real possibility. But there's an alternative in development that could be just as, if not more successful, in the form of 3D bioprinting. It's also not as far away as we think.?

All heart –?According to Carnegie Mellon University biomedical engineering expert Adam Feinberg, a bioprinted heart could be trialled in animals in?little over a decade . His institution has developed a method that can construct tissue scaffolds out of collagen – the most common protein in the body – which they have used to engineer pieces of the human heart. Tel Aviv University researchers have also been able to 3D-print an?entire heart ?from human cells. Although this was small and did not beat, it represented a big advancement in the field.?

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