Scientists create energy device that produces hydrogen at temps hotter than sun

A team of scientists from the Institute of Plasma Physics, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has just made a major breakthrough in a device they call the “artificial sun”.

The energy generation device is now one step closer to transforming energy into stable, sustainable and controllable resources.

The team’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion device made a 102-second long pulse plasma discharge at over  50 million degrees, making it the longest plasma discharge time recorded in all the Tokamak fusion devices in the world.

The device uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a large round spinning doughnut and the atoms are held floating in place by superconducting magnets, according to The South China Morning Post, which first reported the breakthrough.

The scientists’ main goal is to create a 1000-second long pulse plasma discharge at over the central electron temperature of 100 million degrees.

The device was nicknamed “artificial sun” because it will one day generate energy like the sun. With high pressure and high temperatures, fusion reactions will be able to create energy that will enable the device to emit light and heat. But unlike the real sun’s uncontrollable and sometimes destructive fusion reactions, EAST will be able to transform the energy into a more stable and reliable resource. According to the researchers, the hydrogen isotope extracted from one liter of seawater can produce energy that is equivalent to 300 liters of gasoline through complete fusion reactions.