Fusion energy is at least a century away.
Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, ‘5
(The Party's Over : Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, p. 178) [Bozman]
Energy production from conventional or hot nuclear fusion is less controversial from a theoretical point of view than are proposed zero-point or coldfusion projects. Billions of research dollars have been devoted to fusion research over the past two decades. If made practical, fusion could produce almost limitless energy from seawater. However, the hurdles to actually producing fusion energy are prodigious. Reactor temperatures would have to be in the range of 360 million degrees Fahrenheit (200 million degrees Celsius), and no materials or processes are currently capable of containing such temperatures for more than a tiny fraction of a second. No fusion reactor has yet succeeded in producing more energy than it consumes. Even promoters say that commercially useful power production from fusion is at least 50 years away ? but it may not be possible to continue funding expensive and energy-intensive fusion research in the energy-constrained environment of the 21st century.
AT: Geothermal Energy Fills In
There’s not enough geothermal energy to replace oil.
Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, ‘5
(The Party's Over : Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, p. 170) [Bozman]
Geothermal energy production has potential for increased local development, but when viewed against the backdrop of the world?s total energy needs, its contribution ? even if that potential is fully realized ? pales in significance.
Heavy oils are too expensive and wont come online fast enough.
Ken Deffeyes, Professor Emeritus of Geosciences at Princeton, ‘5
(Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak, p. 108) [Bozman]
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