It has been posited recently that the Z Machine, in Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico could create enough power to end the energy crisis for everyone. The machine, which was originally used to measure power fluctuations at the center of nuclear bombs, is now leading scientists into believing in cold fusion, and has been remodeled to combine heavy water atoms and create what some say is the future of electrical power.
As 50 trillion watts of electricity is fired into a central core, a can filled with ultra thin wires has its contents vaporized at a temperature of 6.3 billion degrees Fahrenheit. As the wires vaporize at temperatures higher than any other created by scientists in the world anywhere ever, the wires emit a pulse of X-Ray radiation with more energy than 290 terawatts. For those unfamiliar with how much a terawatt is, it’s one trillion watts. Rounded off, that would be enough to power ten billion 90 watt light bulbs. The entire world uses an average amount of power directly from a grid of about 16 Terawatts at any given time.
One machine running well and full time could easily power a world with ten times the energy needs of our current planet, according to proponents of the technology. Two machines could power a hundred billion electric cars as well as the entire power grid. Essentially, if the Z Machine works to create fusion, it will be the savior of the world when it comes to energy concerns. In addition, once robotics are implemented the only limitation on the planet becomes one of energy. With five hundred million robots working to plant crops and build new cities to the exact specifications of humanity, the world could quickly be expanded to over twice its current amount of space. And with the robots creating more robots, quickly millions of workers with seemingly infinite supply of fusion fed fuel would walk the Earth. And of course this would give Earth an entirely different economy. Soon even the unfortunate and destitute would live in complete luxury and tranquility. The only jobs that would remain would be those directly connected to the infrastructure and creation of a hundred different “species” of androids and creation of better systems. Administration and creative endeavors would become the primary motivation for mankind. Everyone would have a lot more free time and money, and the electricity bills (which would include power for vehicles) would be virtually nothing. Factories would mass produce cheap merchandise with incredible robotic precision at speeds that would create entire industries in mere days.
But before this fantastic world could possibly exist, we must examine the shortcomings of today’s cold fusion. There are several hurdles we must overcome, including the problem of transferal of power. The machine creates all the power the world needs, but only within one 70 billionth of a second. In order for the fantastic lightning machine to become a full power plant, it would have to create energy for extended periods of time. In addition, no currently existing battery is capable of storing the required amount of energy involved in the levels required with a fusion plant. As with many electrical problems, a massive and powerful battery must be created that can trap enough power and store it so the world can draw out the power as needed. More likely a hundred trillion batteries in advance of what we currently have would be required. It may sound like a lot, but the entire world’s energy concerns are no small hurdle.