Net Energy Gain — Another Gift We Won’t Enjoy

This week, the United States government announced that one of its nuclear fusion laboratories, Lawrence Livermore Lab (LLL), has achieved what US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm described as “One of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century.” The Financial Times even declared, “US government scientists have made a breakthrough in the pursuit of limitless, zero-carbon power.”

Despite the fanfare over the breakthrough, a commercial use of the process is at least decades away. Moreover, even if it becomes commercial, humanity will not enjoy it, but only the same few who reap the benefits of every achievement humanity has ever made.

Nuclear fusion is a process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy. This is what happens in the sun. In the experiment, the scientists succeeded in replicating the process in a lab, which released more energy than the energy invested in creating it. This is called “net energy gain,” or “ignition.” Theoretically, this process could create endless energy at almost no cost.

Despite the fanfare over the breakthrough, a commercial use of the process is at least decades away. Moreover, even if it becomes commercial, humanity will not enjoy it, but only the same few who reap the benefits of every achievement humanity has ever made.

Behind every experiment and effort that individuals and governments make lies a corrupt element that does not let any achievement benefit the general public: human nature. Therefore, first of all, I do not think that the giant corporations that make billions from fossil fuels and other means of energy production will let such a gift for humanity materialize. Second, even if this form of energy production does come through, and humanity gains access to unlimited power, it will be used for what every asset is used — against other nations or other people.

As long as we insist on negative connections, we will continue to struggle for energy, fight over it, and deny it from each other. As long as we are disconnected, energy will simply be another means of exploitation and manipulation of the powerful few against the powerless many.

Humanity’s problem is not technological. If we wanted, we could solve the world’s crises in a week. There is no shortage of food, and there should not be hunger. Likewise, there is no shortage of energy, and no one should suffer from the cold in the winter or from the heat in the summer. No one should suffer from poor hygiene and lack of medical facilities, from inadequate education, or from any of the myriad predicaments that plague the world. The only reason we do suffer from them is that we want to inflict harm on each other. It is very simple: Because everyone is trying to make everyone else suffer, everyone suffers.

The world is full of energy. We could use it for all our needs as if it came from nowhere, and it would be completely effortless. The only thing that is required is for us to change our relation toward each other because for energy to flow, there must be connection, and the only connection that is disrupted in reality is human connection. Therefore, if we fix the connections between us, we will have limitless and effortless energy.

The energy in the universe is boundless. We do not need to split atoms or fuse nuclei in order to extract or harvest it, or to derive energy through other costly means. We do not need labs, and we do not need cutting edge science. We need to stop wanting to deny each other of everything that is good; we need to stop trying to suffocate each other. If we change our intentions toward others, we will release the chokehold we are putting on each other and the energy will flow by itself, to everyone, incessantly, abundantly, and endlessly.

Energy is energy; it can be used however we choose. If we do not obstruct its flow through our blocked connections, we will be able to satisfy our every need, from the most physical to the emotional or mental.

Admittedly, we are nowhere near releasing this endless energy. However, we must remember that only if we work toward it, we will eventually achieve a state where humanity is free of energy concerns. As long as we insist on negative connections, we will continue to struggle for energy, fight over it, and deny it from each other. As long as we are disconnected, energy will simply be another means of exploitation and manipulation of the powerful few against the powerless many.