A new energy production paradigm

The gulf between science and policy has never seemed greater than at the recent UN climate summit.

The talks held in Doha at the end of last year ended in the way that all the climate summits before it have ended – in disappointment. Whilst some think-tanks and talking heads have exclaimed the outcomes of the meeting to be ‘game changing’ in truth they have done little, if anything, to reduce emissions.

I’m not indifferent to the often insurmountable differences that arise when seeking multinational agreement – especially on a topic such as climate change – but the world’s consistently delayed response will cost us dearly.

Past Climate summits seem to allow only for progress that many would describe as glacial – a cutting irony given one of the consequences of the failure to take action is the speeding up of glacial destruction. As climate change diplomacy is slowing, glaciers are actually speeding up – at some point the analogy will have to be reversed with particularly immobile glaciers being described as ‘UN-like’.

Words are vitally important – diplomacy has little else – but after all the vast reams of documentation, and all the tentative accords that climate change summits generate, action must surely follow. And whilst steps have been taken – few would argue they have been numerous or large enough to stop anthropomorphic climate change.

Indeed, it is now entirely possible that by the time a workable, effective way of reducing fossil fuel based emissions is reached – a new energy production paradigm may have taken shape. As for what shape will that be – well there are, of course, a gamut of potential new energy sources but to my mind the most promising surely has to be power generated by nuclear fusion.

But how close are we to manipulating the electromagnetic and nuclear forces that stand in the way of commercial fusion? Well, check out P22/ Solving the Fusion Puzzle and you’ll find out that we are closer than you might think…