Baltimore, MD - By 2050, the world will have an estimated population of 12 billion people. The demand for energy will be enormous. But one solution to the world's long-term energy demands may be 239,000 miles away.

The world is desperately looking for an heir to oil. Among the contenders is the nuclear option.

And the nuclear boom has already started. Uranium prices have increased dramatically. Prices may even reach $100/pound before 2007 is over. Also, current uranium production cannot meet demand. So Australia, holding 40% of the world's reserves, is beginning to open up new property for development.

By 2050, the world will need about 900 nuclear plants to satisfy its energy requirements. Japan plans to build five by 2010, China expects 30 before 2020, and India already has 9 under construction. Even Canada is refurbishing over two dozen of its facilities. The 103 nuclear plants in the U.S. supply nearly 20% of our electricity.

But the solution I was referring to is a different kind of nuclear power - nuclear fusion.

Future Fusion

Essentially, fusion involves multiple nuclei joining together to form a heavier nucleus. Depending on the masses of the nuclei involved, energy is either released or absorbed. Fusing two nuclei heavier than iron or nickel will absorb energy. When they are lighter than iron or nickel, energy is released.

One of the promising materials that may prove fusion to be a viable source of energy is helium-3. Since helium has an extremely low mass per nucleon, it is favored for the fusion process. And helium-3 presents a non-radioactive opportunity to contain the lone high-energy proton released using electric and magnetic fields. This results directly in the generation of electricity.

Unfortunately, we will never know if helium-3 can be properly used until we build fusion power plants. Yet the lack of helium-3 on earth prevents plant construction.

Helium-3 occurs naturally in the earth's crust, but only a small fraction of it can be recovered. The large amount given off by the sun is deflected by the Earth's magnetic field.

Presently, scientists extract helium-3 by dismantling nuclear weapons - which still doesn't yield enough to make fusion a viable solution.

Only $3 Billion Per Ton

You read that correctly - one ton of helium-3 would cost in excess of $3 billion.

Imagine fueling the entire annual U.S. energy demand with roughly 25 tons of helium-3, or even the world's demand with 100 tons. Yet that amount seems impossible to produce given its rarity on earth.

But spending $75 billion on energy is trivial compared to current U.S. expenditures.

Remember that the U.S. government spent over $300 billion on oil imports in 2006 alone! In 2001, the Energy Information Agency reported that 107 million U.S. households spent nearly $159 billion on energy.

Though we cannot produce even a fraction of the helium-3 reserves, the moon could hold enormous reserves. Lacking the magnetic field the Earth has allows the moon to absorb a significant amount of helium-3. In fact, scientists have estimated that the moon has more than a million tons of helium-3.

That would be enough to power the world's energy needs for tens of thousands of years.

Race to Mine the Moon

Two weeks ago, the People's Daily Online outlined the future of China's space program in three main parts, including a plan to explore the moon. The interesting thing is the suggested motivation behind their lunar trip.

On April 17, 2007, China will launch an unmanned probe to orbit the moon. Between 2007 and 2012, the Chinese plan a soft landing on the moon's surface. They hope to bring back lunar samples using robots and probing devices. Finally, a manned spaceflight is anticipated between 2020 and 2025.

But their moon mission isn't about planting flags or creating new catchphrases. Instead, the People's Daily Online hinted that they're after a new power source - helium-3.

The possibility of mining the moon for precious resources isn't too far-fetched. The 25 tons of helium-3 the U.S. would need to for a year's worth of power could fit into one shuttle. This makes helium-3 a veritable lunar cash crop. Countries could rush to strip-mine massive areas of the moon.

Nuclear Stigma

But fusion or no, whether nuclear power will be able to overcome the negative stereotypes that come with it remains to be seen.

The possible nuclear fuel that helium-3 offers could solve the world's future energy demand. But since decades will be needed to develop fusion technology, it will not come in time to solve the crisis that will develop in the next few years.

Any benefit from fusion energy is a long-term project, not a quick fix for today or next year.

Until next time,

Keith Kohl