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An energy source that's out of this
world
By Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri
With the oil age starting to appear alarmingly
finite, and with governments all over the planet
searching for new energy sources, space scientists are
looking at yet another fuel source, this one distributed
on the moon over billions of years as birds distributed
guano on the island of Nauru.
The energy source
is Helium 3, which exists in minute quantities on earth
but which has been deposited on the moon by solar winds,
a rapid stream of charged particles from the sun, from
the dawn of time. Helium-3, or Astrofuel, as scientists
have dubbed it, sounds, well, almost too good to be
true. All they have to do is figure out a way to go get
it, and then to build a plant to transform it to energy
once they get it back here.
Estimates of world
energy use and recoverable reserves vary widely. Average
energy consumption, measured in crude oil, is 71,530,
barrels per day against a total known world reserve of
about 1.0 trillion barrels. Thus a conservative estimate
indicates that commercially viable oil supply could be
exhausted in 40 to 50 years although by another estimate
there is enough coal in the United States to last
another 275 years at current consumption rates. Coal,
however, is a dirty fuel that is costly to clean up
through filters and scrubbers.
At present rates
of consumption, which are unlikely to hold steady
forever as alternative fuels come on stream, when the
population reaches the 10 billion mark consumption is
projected at about 100 to 150 billion barrels of oil per
year. Mankind is already looking for energy sources
based on solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass and
certainly some will continue towards playing a major
role in energy production.
Nuclear fusion is the
other source of energy, but faces lots of political
problems because of the radioactive waste it produces
and because it produces a great number of neurons, which
damage reactors, cutting their life. On the other hand,
a fusion reaction carried through Helium3 releases only
one percent of its energy in the form of neutrons. As a
result, this type of reactor becomes easy and reduces
radioactivity to a very low level, scientists working on
the subject say.
Enter Astrofuel, as Helium-3 or
He3 has come to be known, which was discovered on the
moon in 1969 when American astronauts first arrived,
although the link between the isotope and lunar
resources was not made until 1986. Scientists describe
it as the most efficient known source of power, because
99 percent of the energy can be released as charged
particles and thus be converted into electricity with
greater efficiency. The level of radioactivity is so low
that a complete reactor meltdown would not spread
radioactive particles. And the reactor could be
dismantled at the end of its useful life to be disposed
of like any other ordinary median instruments.
The Center for Space Automation and Robotics at
the University of Wisconsin in Madison first conceived
the idea of mining Astrofuel from the Moon in 1986. The
center, one of 16 National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA)-funded facilities for the
commercial development of space, is positioned to manage
the project because of the university's already existing
fusion, space and life support research program.
Researchers at Madison say they are certain that
He3, an isotope of helium with one less neutron than
helium itself, could replace fossil fuels. While it is
rare on earth, it is available in large quantities on
the moon. One tonne, they say, could supply the energy
needs of a city of 10 million people when combined in a
fusion reactor with a form of hydrogen extracted from
water. It is hardly difficult to thus imagine the impact
that Astrofuel could have on world energy supplies.
The extremely high power density means that only
28 tonnes of Astrofuel, approximately the payload of the
current US Space Shuttle, could supply the entire
electrical demand of the US for a year. Even at a
selling price of US$1 billion per tonne, the energy cost
would be equivalent to oil at $7 a barrel.
Unfortunately, the space shuttle is not at this time
configured to fly to the moon, and a new space vehicle
would have to be developed.
The nation that
develops the technology to retrieve Astrofuel could thus
find itself in a commanding economic and strategy
position in this century. The US already has the
research and resource lead for recovery. While some He3
is available on earth, the quantity is not sufficient to
be exploited commercially. The US strategic reserve
amounts to only 29 kg, with another 187 kg mixed up with
natural gas. By contrast, the moon has an estimated
reserve of 1.1 billion tonnes of He3 that has been
deposited by the solar wind.
The commercial
viability of Astrofuel was determined by the Wisconsin’s
University Research Center in 1987, a year after its
discovery. In 1987 prices, it was found that the US
spends $40 billion annually to buy coal, oil, natural
gas and uranium to produce electricity. For the megawatt
volume of electricity for one year, the US might need to
import one spacecraft load of fuel at a cost of $25
billion - about a fourth of the price of crude today at
the aforementioned $7 per barrel.
Obviously,
billions of dollars would be required or research and
development by participating countries and would involve
the development of many technologies that currently
remain to be created. Foremost among them are
superconducting magnets, plasma control and diagnostics,
robotically controlled mining equipment, life support
facilities, rocket launch vehicles, telecommunications,
power electronics, etc. Though the investment seems
astronomical, compared to the benefit derived, the
justification seems more than adequate.
For one
thing, the developed world would no longer be held
hostage to the Middle East, where the preponderance of
the world’s fossil fuel reserves are located. American
scientists have already declared that the moon could be
the Persian Gulf of the present century. Two liters of
He3 would do the work of more than 1,000 tons of coal.
And who would own this real estate? No doubt,
the only affordable source of energy would be completely
dominated by American industries. With the collapse of
the USSR, Russia’s space program has largely
disappeared. The Chinese, who only launched their first
man into space last month, are well behind in the race.
India, with its fledgling space program even
less-developed, is even further behind. The Euroland
space program is hardly oriented towards anything beyond
launching commercial earth satellites.
It is
thus possible that every member of the United Nations
could be forced to stand in a queue to receive a quota
of fuel fixed by Uncle Sam. All discussion about energy
security would take a back seat. The UN will discuss
everything, but its members would go on waiting for
their quota to arrive. Astrofuel would decide politics,
economics and the world order.
The technology to
harness He3 as an energy source is a continuing process
in the laboratories of the US universities.
Miniaturization of He3-driven reactors would take an
immense role in the new world order.
Dr
Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri is a former professor of
international relations at Oxford College in the UK and
a guest professor of international relations at the
London School of Economics & Political Science.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd.
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information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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