Carbon-free
Steven Cowley, a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy, became the seventh Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) on July 1 and will be Princeton professor of astrophysical sciences on September 1.
Physicist Egemen Kolemen, who holds positions at Princeton University and the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), is sharing a grant from ExxonMobil to research whether plasma could reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with oil wells. Plasma is partially ionized gas that has separated into electrons and atomic nuclei, and can be found on Earth as lightning, neon lights, and many other forms. Stars and 99 percent of the visible universe are made of plasma.
Physicist Egemen Kolemen, who holds positions at Princeton University and the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), is sharing a grant from ExxonMobil to research whether plasma could reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with oil wells. Plasma is partially ionized gas that has separated into electrons and atomic nuclei, and can be found on Earth as lightning, neon lights, and many other forms. Stars and 99 percent of the visible universe are made of plasma.
Click here to view a cool infographic about fusion energy from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Fusion is the energy source of the sun and stars.
Among the top puzzles in the development of fusion energy is the best shape for the magnetic facility — or “bottle” — that will provide the next steps in the development of fusion reactors. Leading candidates include spherical tokamaks, compact machines that are shaped like cored apples, compared with the doughnut-like shape of conventional tokamaks. The spherical design produces high-pressure plasmas — essential ingredients for fusion reactions — with relatively low and cost-effective magnetic fields.
Spherical tokamaks could serve as a model for unlimited carbon-free energy.
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz dedicated the most powerful spherical torus fusion facility in the world on Friday, May 20, 2016. The $94-million upgrade to the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX-U), funded by the DOE Office of Science, is a spherical tokamak fusion device that explores the creation of high-performance plasmas at 100-million degree temperatures many times hotter than the core of the sun.
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz dedicated the most powerful spherical torus fusion facility in the world on Friday, May 20, 2016. The $94-million upgrade to the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX-U), funded by the DOE Office of Science, is a spherical tokamak fusion device that explores the creation of high-performance plasmas at 100-million degree temperatures many times hotter than the core of the sun.
From launching the most powerful spherical tokamak on Earth to discovering a mechanism that halts solar eruptions, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory advanced the boundaries of clean energy and plasma science research in 2015. Here, in no particular order, are our picks for the Top-5 developments of the year:
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Princeton University.
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