Question

Engineers and physicists dream of solving the world's energy supply problem by constructing power plants that would convert hydrogen to helium. Our Sun seems to have solved this problem. Choose the statement below that correctly identifies a major obstacle to this potentially environmentally clean mode of energy production. Choose one:

a. Hydrogen gas is not readily available on the Earth.
b. It currently takes so much energy to produce the high density and temperature required to fuse hydrogen to helium in the lab, that the energy we get out is less than we need to put in.
c. The amount of energy produced by converting an even tiny quantity of hydrogen to helium could not safely be controlled on Earth.
d. Being so close to the source of the resulting neutrinos would be fatal to life on Earth.

Answer 1

The major obstacle to harnessing fusion energy from hydrogen to helium is the high energy input required to initiate and sustain fusion reactions.

Step-by-step explanation:

The major obstacle to creating power plants that convert hydrogen to helium, similar to the Sun, is option b:

b. It currently takes so much energy to produce the high density and temperature required to fuse hydrogen to helium in the lab, that the energy we get out is less than we need to put in.

In current experiments, the amount of energy required to initiate and sustain fusion reactions is much greater than the energy released from the reactions. This makes it economically and technically challenging to harness fusion as a viable energy source.