FW: Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fission is what is currently used in all of our nuclear power facilities. Fission is a process of breaking down large elements into smaller parts, and in the process releasing astonishing amounts of energy. It requires unstable isotopes of rare elements in most cases and is a costly process. Nuclear fusion on the other hand involves the fusing of two small elements together to form a larger one, and releasing a ton of energy in the process. The materials used are much more abundant and are easily accessible. Hydrogen is commonly used in fusion, and the universe (not coincidentally) consists of 98% hydrogen. It is as plentiful as we could ever wish any power source to be. Unfortunately, the cost of converting hydrogen into energy requires incredibly high temperatures, and is too costly to serve as an efficient energy source. If scientists can achieve "cold fusion", or fusion that doesn't need temperatures so outrageously high, then it might be possible to produce more energy than is needed to produce it in the first place. Then nuclear fusion could be an extremely efficient way to become completely independent of any fossil fuels, domestic or foreign, and would also eliminate the worldwide economic problems that come from relying on bio-fuels made from corn, that often have inflating effects in many countries. With cold fusion, we could literally provide power to developing nations at a fraction of the price that it would cost now with our current technologies. It's too bad that we don't know how to do that yet. I wish politicians would stop talking about ethanol and start funding cold fusion research.