As the search for cleaner, flexible, and renewable energy sources continue, scientists have been looking to the basic elements. Hydroelectric power for example, is available in some geographic locations and has been with us for many years. Solar and wind power are as clean and renewable as anything we have available to us today, but can’t always be relied upon as a constant source of energy. Some new work at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics in Rochester, New York suggests that within our lifetimes we may see new renewable sources of electrical power that generate more power than they consume and at the same time are relatively clean and could be implemented without geographic limitations. As David Clements of the “Be Connected” Technology Series reports, the answer may lie in both our bodies of water and our sun.

Rochester's OMEGA Facility is the world's largest unclassified ultra-violet laser. A single pulse of infrared light is repeatedly split, amplified and filtered to obtain 60 high energy beams. These beams are then frequency tripled to produce 60 ultra-violet beams which are then focused on a target less than 1mm in diameter. The entire layout for the OMEGA laser is about the size of a football field and encompasses two floors and part of the basement of the building in which it's housed. While the energy returns are not ideal yet, as research continues, Lawerence Livermore National Laboratory in California will house the next phase of this exciting power generation experiment. For more information on fusion generated by lasers, click here.