Clean fuel from the moon? Did anybody else hear about this? I caught an audible glimpse, if you will, of this topic on The Regular Guys radio show earlier this week? Apparently we%26#039;d be able to replace our oil needs for the next 1,000 years or so.

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6 months ago

Crabby - I think you nailed it. That makes sense.

Miley - your music/image sucks and your dad was even worse. please retire early.

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A lot more tan 1000 years.

Here%26#039;s the details. currently, scientists are working to develop nuclear fusion as a power source. They have accomplished it on a ery limited laboratory scale--but it is still decades away from being practical aas a power source.

Nuclear fusion is just about the ideal power source. It produces no pollution or even radioactive waste. It does (in most cases) produce a good bit of radiation--but that is relatively simple to shield against. And--unlike a conventional nuclear reactor (nuclear fission) when you turn it off--its off--no residual radiation.

Now--what the moon has to do with this. One of the best fuels for a fusion reactor is Helium 3. Its an isotope of helium tha tforms on the moon under the exposure to the sun%26#039;s unshielded radiation. It can also produce many times more enrgy for a given amount than even matirals like uranium and plutonium. So the quantities needed would be fairly small

So--yes. Its decades away--but the solution to our energy problems is very possibly on the moon!

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merci

Other Answers (5)

• Good Question
• Dream on. We have all the oil we need right here in the USA. If the wacko anti oil crowd would get a life then we could very well see gas and other oil products come down in price significantly! As far as getting anything more than %26quot;moonlight%26quot; at night you have a better chance at winning the powerball jackpot twice a week for the rest of your life.
• Why would you want to exploit another planet? We damage ours so much by drilling in the places that we are not supposed to therefore damaging natural balance and ecosystem.
  I don%26#039;t think that moon is a solution to the problem
• The energy needed to get out of our atmosphere and go get it, and bring it back would probably be near or greater than the energy produced.
  
  I think you are talking about the helium that we could use for fusion. I havent read too much about it because I thought it would be impractical to get fuel from a source so far away.
  
  
  Why not just have all the unemployed walk around a giant wheel that turns a huge magnet to generate electricity? That would be something to see, 100 people rotating a huge wheel that could be set up to a transmission or something that allows it to change the gear ratio.
• what are you on about?
  explain.
  my IM is on my profile.
  sorry if i sound rude.
  i just wanna kno wat u mean.