Will Helium-3 be the energy source of the future? This article from the Daily Cardinal talks about researchers who think that mining on the moon could pay huge dividends for humanity. Some staggering figures:
UW-Madison nuclear engineering Professor and Director of the Fusion Technology Institute Gerald Kulcinski and Fusion Technology Institute Professor John Santarius said the rocks on the moon hold helium-3, an energy source approximately 1 million times more powerful than coal.
Under their plan, astronauts would fill a space shuttle with canisters full of the rock. Because the helium-3 exists only on first few feet of the moon’s surface, it would need to be gathered horizontally over the moon’s exterior.
One cargo supply would provide the United States with all the electricity it needs for a year, according to the scientists.
They predict the moon has enough energy to last the U.S. over 1,000 years.
Comments
2 responses to “Helium-3”
I don’t get it, does this mean that the current Nuclear fusion methods will become economical or will this just help in the future?
Im not sure Dave, I will be looking into this topic in the future though