China is attempting to reacreate the sun
Yes, you read it right, China is trying to build its own sun, doing so through nuclear fusion. It’s not actually just China though - and nuclear fusion is closer to us than you might think.
You might have heard of nuclear fission - where an atom is split, releasing lots of energy. This is how our precious nuclear reactors work. Nuclear fusion, however, is the combining of 2 atoms; and releases much more energy. It usually happens in the core of stars - hence why China is “recreating the sun”. Unfortunately for us, the sun’s core is 15 million °C, and has immense gravity. We don’t have that kind of gravity, so to combine atoms, we have to get creative.
This gives us the TOKAMAK. Weighing 23000 metric tons (more than 2 of our beloved Eiffel Towers!); the TOKAMAK is a machine being engineered to carry out nuclear fusion. Believe it or not, the way it does this is by heating hydrogen isotopes from seawater to 150 million degrees celsius. That’s 10x as hot as the sun’s core! At such a balmy temperature, gas turns into plasma - a fourth state of matter. To stop plasma from burning a hole right through the earth, scientists have to use super strong magnets to suspend the plasma in the air. But don’t worry, these magnets are engineered to have no effects outside the TOKAMAK - so your fridge magnets shouldn’t fall off.
Originally designed by Russia, the “EAST” TOKAMAK in China has made the most progress. This reactor has sustained plasma for just under 18 minutes at 100 million °C. It has also sustained plasma at 160 million °C for 20 seconds - which is essential, as 150 million °C is the temperature at which the reactor starts generating more energy than it takes. The EAST TOKAMAK still isn’t perfect yet though - it is yet to achieve “self-ignition”; when it generates enough energy to keep itself going. Scientists predict that it will reach this milestone in 2027.
This isn’t to say that China are the only ones doing this though - dozens of countries including the UK, the US, France, Japan and South Korea are all competing with their individual projects to achieve stable nuclear fusion (without blowing up the world). However, they’re also working together. ITER is the international TOKAMAK; being built by over 35 nations working together. Unfortunately, the ITER is slower to progress due to differences and conflicts between countries involved. It plans to reach self-ignition in 2039. So, individual projects, especially China’s, are further ahead.
So, what does this all mean for the environment? It means acquiring limitless, clean energy - no nasty greenhouse gases! It is incredibly efficient as well - 1 bath of seawater (used to get hydrogen gas for fusion) could be worth thousands of barrels of oil. However, there’s still a long way to go, even for China, before nuclear fusion can become a viable option for general energy.
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An interesting read Andrew. I didn't know China were so ahead with this. I did know about the ITER project just North of Aix en Provence here in France.