News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Y Combinator And Mithril Invest In Helion, A Nuclear Fusi... by mschuster91 on Friday August 15, 2014 @02:03AM (#8181160)
> However, 15% of UK energy is generated from renewables (excluding nuclear), which would mean that currently one seventh of the landmass of the UK was covered in wind turbines etc. Which it isn't.

Most likely brought in from other countries, and the wind parks in the North Sea.

Many local utilities in Germany hold stakes e.g. in a Norwegian (iirc) dam project, so they recieve a given amount of electricity output. This increases Germany's renewable-source amount even if the energy itself isn't produced in Germany.

Re:Y Combinator And Mithril Invest In Helion, A Nuclear Fusi... by phaemon on Friday August 15, 2014 @02:16AM (#8181180)
Nope, Scotland over produces and sells to England, but that's still UK, at least for another month ;-)

Offshore wind was included in the impossible. There's something off in his figures. Perhaps wind turbines have become more efficient since he first made his calculations?

Re:Y Combinator And Mithril Invest In Helion, A Nuclear Fusi... by cmdkeen on Friday August 15, 2014 @04:21AM (#8181379)
It may also be diminishing returns, not all land is equal for wind turbine placement. If all the "good" spots can't generate enough for the UK's needs you might need to start using less suitable locations.
Re:Y Combinator And Mithril Invest In Helion, A Nuclear Fusi... by TheOtherHobbes on Friday August 15, 2014 @01:51PM (#8183307)
By far the most efficient wind turbine placements are offshore. We have plenty of coast, and so far very little of it has offshore wind farms.

We also have a good few estuaries that could create electricity relatively easily - using known and proven technology, which fusion certainly isn't.

Bottom line is these figures are either incompetent or disingenuous.

I'm old enough to remember fusion being touted as the Next Big Thing for literally all of my life. Commercial containment fusion seems no closer now than it did fifty years ago.

There are alternatives, but they're highly speculative. Dropping YC cash on them makes sense as a long shot, but the science doesn't suggest it's wise to expect them to make good.