Energy "food-chain"

[joegatt]

In this diagram I tried to represent the main forms of energy and how they are transformed from one type to another. The routes indicated are by no means exhaustive as, in principle, each form of energy can be transformed to any of the other types, through the use of an appropriate mediator.  Also some of the routes may actually consist of several stages, as anyone who studied photosynthesis can testify. The routes indicated however were chosen because they are the most common or convenient.

What sticks out from this depiction is that energy tends to diffuse from nuclear sources to the various dynamic/kinetic  forms of energy. Energy from these dynamic forms is periodically transformed to one of the three potential energy forms, from where it can be recovered at a later stage.  So we can say that nuclear is the mother of all energies.  It may come from a local fission reactor. Or, as in the case of wind and photovoltaic, it originates on that giant fusion reactor 93 million miles away that is The Sun.
 
But try to peep into the eye of that central symbol and what do you see? Heavy elements like uranium? Not necessarily. Deuterium fusion makes use of a light element. The new reactor design by Dr. Robert Bussard makes use of boron, an element not normally regarded as nuclear fuel. At the other end of the scale we hear that India is researching a fission reactor that uses thorium bombarded by neutrons from a linear accelerator.  The basic requirement for nuclear energy is the conversion of some of the matter into energy.  This process is no less commendable than would be the tapping of the energy of the vacuum itself.  Considering that some students are capable of building a Farnsworth Fuser at home, and that high speed particle bombardment can be use to breed new fuels, it makes one wonder whether this line of research has been adequately explored.

I for one am inclined to think, that the potential health hazards for the amateur are too much, to justify this line of exploration.  But government research, and properly funded private labs, can forge the way ahead.

Regards
Joseph