Michio Kaku: Fusion Really Is 20 Years Away | Big Think

Will solar power replace fossil fuels as the main energy source?
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Michio Kaku:

Dr. Michio Kaku is the co-founder of string field theory, and is one of the most widely recognized scientists in the world today. He has written 4 New York Times Best Sellers, is the science correspondent for CBS This Morning and has hosted numerous science specials for BBC-TV, the Discovery/Science Channel. His radio show broadcasts to 100 radio stations every week. Dr. Kaku holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York (CUNY), where he has taught for over 25 years. He has also been a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study as well as New York University (NY
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[MrLightning]

Wow it’s amazing, 11 years later and it’s been announced that humanity has finally had the breakthrough to produce nuclear fusion and it produces more energy than what it took to start it. And he named the laboratory that would eventually have this breakthrough and his timing predictions were in the ball park!

[haruruben]

He’s 100% right, DOE just announced first successful net generation of power through fusion and it will take another 10-20 years to get it online

[stradus]

posting in 2019 the ITER fusion reactor that Michio kaku said was supposed to go online this year has been kicked out to December 2025 according there website

[micoforion]

Michio Kaku you're my hero, thank you. 

[TylerInTraining]

I've actually had the chance privilege of meeting one of the scientists working on the ITER project in France. Really passionate and friendly guy, prompted me to look up the project and read up a bit on it. It's a great work of ambition from what I can see, and if it becomes massively viable I think it would make for a great energy source for the world over. I wish those guys the best in their work.

[handplanty]

2:00 "In Los Ala... In Livermore..." Fusion is not a secret project, Kaku :P

[fightingmink]

Forward 10 years, it's starting to look promising. Another 10 years, let's hope it becomes common-place.

[Davidagarcia]

Almost 10 years later, he was somewhat correct about solar.

[JebediahKermanZaddy]

France gets all the funky stuff, the world's fastest trains, particle accelerators, railguns and now a fusion reactor!

[northernskies]

Sadly, it's 2020 and the ITER tokamak isn't even completed (though construction started a few weeks ago.) ITER plans for first plasma in 2025 and D-T fusion experiments in 2035. After that, DEMO will be built and completed by the 2050s, which will provide commercial fusion power. It still looks like it's 30 years away (fortunately there is some hope with private fusion companies like General Fusion and Tri Alpha which could bring fusion to the grid by the 2030s. Multinational projects like ITER are notorious for overfunding and delays.)

[TriggerHappy]

This might be a false assumption, but, with the rise of the internet and other global communication services, it seems like scientists and the ideas they proclaim become more acessible and easier to understand for people every day.
Michio kaku is one of the few scientists you could actually consider to be some sort of celebrity (along with neil de grasse tyson amongst others), who has starred on alot of mainstream informative programs and documentaries.

[jamesm]

At 1:33 he says 'Dudu'
Hehehe.

[nekomasteryoutube]

If anything, until solar and fusion become powerful enough to power a city, I still believe that Nuclear power is the way to go. It takes up less space then a huge coal power plant or solar array, it doesnt really disturb water like hydrodams do, and it doesnt kill birds, insects and bats like wind turbines do. What we need to do though to make nuclear a little more pleasing to the public is either find a safe way to dispose of nuclear waste, or recycle it like they do in France and Japan (a closed loop system).
Another technology we should be using is Geo-Thermal, theres many places that are volcanic, and we could probably use that for making geo-thermal electricity

[MrPhilsterable]

This is especially exciting considering they recently managed to cause a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it took. Only a few short steps from ignition and when that happens, oh boy.

[johnandan]

problem with fusion, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that it also creates plasma, which at the moment no known substance or container can house without melting, we can suspend it with magnets but if it becomes the main source of power it would take too much power to power the magnets to suspend the plasma.

[dexterek]

Yes. I've heard that 20 years ago...

[SputnikCrisis]

if we really can harness fusion power, were talking unlimited lights, unlimited running water, virtually free travel to anywhere in the world, hell with THAT much energy we will be able to control the daily weather

[theboulder]

Mr. Stark, please finish your arc reactor.

[atuamaechegou]

Unless the reactor would be as hot as the sun or close to the value to which at that point would be able to react without the help of a reactor, as soon as the reactor would be broken, the reaction would end since the reactor wouldn't be able to give energy in the form of heat to do such reactions.
Sorry if I messed up in explaining or if I got something wrong.
Fusion reactors ( not cold fusion reactors ) need heat to produce the nuclear fusion and that heat is easily controlled.

[Umarudon]

He was right! We're getting pretty close to fusion energy!