The future of fusion (assuming something like IECF, cold fusion or solid state nano-technology based IECF)
Fusion engines will probably NEVER directly power cars or aircraft.
If it produces neutrons - shielding too great, too heavy
If it has or produces tritium - too toxic, too risky (crash)
If it contains or produces any radioactive material - too risky (crash)
If it requires heat conversion (steam plant) - too heavy, maintenance prone
HOWEVER:
Fusion could provide excess hydrogen for fuel-cell based vehicles.
Fusion could generate power to manufacture propane and the like for
Fuel-cell based vehicles.
If batteries are required for electric-cars, then (unless their energy density goes WAY up) cars will always be refueled, and will maintain and evolve the current fuel distribution network.
Fusion would replace fission in Naval vessels - probably in all larger craft.
If fusion reactors produced neutrons, then every kid who could get his hands on a reactor is a potential nuclear super-power…
Moderated neutrons on uranium or thorium - boom.
Moderated neutron on lithium, uranium, thorium - BIG BOOM!
Fusion would power desalination and clean water production - this would turn the world's deserts into oasis. The world becomes a bread basket. The reasons for war would be reduced greatly. Real space station is developed. Deep space exploration begins in earnest. Establish moon base to collect HE3 from the surface.' NanoTechnology becomes a reality. The human population explodes. Cities become massive, modularized single structures. Cities, as heat islands, now counter the new agriculture - global warming for REAL. Global crisis due to extinction of non-human species. Genetic diversity threatened. Huge effort to collect, catalog and cross-reference genetic information from all species Exploding population leads to resource crisis - which sets us back up for wars. Nuclear exchanges. Some Bill Gates type puts fusion engines on a grappling device, locates and returns nickel iron asteroids to stable earth orbit. Asteroids are cored for materials and turned into huge "City Ship" space vehicles. Mars begins to be terra-formed and colonized. Asteroids are being mined. Earth becomes a producer of heat rather then a collector. All plankton in oceans die. Oceans are desalinated and chlorine and sodium are recovered as industrial supplies. Quantum teleportation leads to instantaneous communication. Human contamination/disease wipes out all life on Io. Too many feral children have thrown rocks and stuff into the global heat sinks - cascading collapse… 2/3 of Earth's industrial capability and population are incinerated in the melt-down. Remaining population is saved by venting heat to make a plasma of 20 percent of earth's oceans - which is ejected into space. Mars declares salvage rights on Earth and begins mining of the crippled planet… True artificial intelligence is developed. Bussard ram-jet becomes reality Some Earth hacker with too much time invents self-replicating nanobots that move heavy elements away from center of gravity, lighter elements toward center of gravity - they get loose…
Earth is quarantined. Plutonium layer is ignited by alpha flux to Aramecium layer.
Earth and moon are no more…
Man machine interface allows "self" to be transferred and backed-up at will.
End of humanity.
Created on Thursday, February 08, 2001 2:26 PM EDT by Rolf L. Quam