In an exhausting attempt to be open-minded regarding the young “climate change heroine” Greta Thunberg, we find ourselves in front of a wall that we cannot find a way to climb; a burden that we just can’t leave behind.
Greta Thunberg is a character that you can only love or hate, there is no middle ground to be found.
Her first speech was quite powerful, delivering strong words to the higher powers that—until that moment—never listened to anyone of that age, or better, that never gave someone of that age the chance to speak and such level.
Since that pivotal moment, none of us would have ever thought that a young girl could have uttered such meaningful words in front of such a tough crowd.
We are a strong supporter of climate change and we understand that we might be in a moment when the small changes that the world economy is implementing might not be enough. On this point, we are with Greta and we embrace her point of view.
Overpopulation, plastic, pollution, increasing global temperature, natural disasters, all unequivocal proofs of an ecosystem that is changing dramatically, if not dying and beyond the point of return.
Then why does this article seem against Greta?
Because vacuous words are moving us further from the goal of saving Gaia.
When the cringing and unarticulate “blah blah” speech given by Greta came to invade the web like the words of a messiah, it seemed to be a repetitious version of all her speeches. Nothing new. No call to concrete actions.
What I wonder is what was the message? What did she truly say? Can anyone truly say that the speech had some suggestions, that there was something that could be proposing a path to new solutions? In all fairness, no! But all the media is looking at this speech like a young activist “scolding” the leaders of the world.
Seriously?!
This is the reason why we cannot simply take every repetitive—and quite annoying—speech that she gives and act mesmerized as if these words were never spoken. Her lack of data, knowledge, information, is baffling, yet all the media seems not to be able to truly analyze what her words are…vacuous.
Our suggestion to Greta is to use the influence that she has to speak about technologies and companies that are truly trying to make a difference. To push the message of companies that are working hard to find concrete solutions to the climate crisis; to help fund research; to bring to the attention of the higher powers these solutions and to have them not be ignored; not empty blah blah.
One of the many examples are companies like General Fusion and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories that partner to accelerate cleantech in Canada. They are working with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories on a vital project to advance fusion energy technology. Through this collaboration, General Fusion and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories will develop tritium extraction techniques for use in commercial fusion power plants.
To produce fusion energy, General Fusion is developing a practical and economical approach to Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) – putting the company on the fastest path to commercialization. MTF is fueled by hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium. Deuterium is derived from water, whereas tritium can be bred from the fusion reaction. In fusion, these isotopes heat to more than 100 million degrees Celsius, fuse, and create neutrons. The neutrons interact with the liquid metal liner of the fusion vessel. This reaction generates more tritium.
Together, the organizations will identify the most promising approaches for managing tritium in fusion energy systems – specifically, the process of extracting tritium from liquid metal to provide a limitless supply of tritium fuel.
The work is being done through the Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative – a program that facilitates access to Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ world-class facilities for industrial partners in Canada and around the world.
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories will collaborate with General Fusion to develop various technologies to extract tritium for use in fusion power plants. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has a $40 million state of the art tritium facility capable of handling the materials required to conduct full-scale tests of tritium extraction technology.
“We are taking our decades of expertise in tritium handling, separation and storage and applying it to resolve technical problems in this area in fusion,” said Dr. Ian Castillo, Head of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ Hydrogen and Tritium Technology directorate. “This is an exciting project, and we are pleased to make a contribution to the advancement of Canadian fusion technology.”
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is using its unique capabilities in tritium to address challenges seen today and advance the technologies for successful application.
“Our global research partners play an important role in helping General Fusion advance its MTF technology for commercialization,” said Ryan Guerrero, Chief Technology Officer at General Fusion. “This collaboration with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories will further refine this technology for application in commercial power plants.”
To confirm the performance and economics of its MTF technology at a power plant-relevant scale, General Fusion is preparing to build a Fusion Demonstration Plant, which is scheduled to be operational in 2025. The company targets the early 2030s to bring clean fusion energy onto the world’s energy systems.
Now, bear with me, why does Greta Thunberg never speak about this? Why can’t she support these innovations? Why doesn’t her influence and power go towards solutions that are out there and that need funding? Why can’t she be the heroine that we all would love to see? This is the reason why that wall is so hard to climb; why we can’t seem to be capable of loving her; why the burden of her empty words is so hard to bear.
About General Fusion
General Fusion is pursuing the fastest and most practical path to commercial fusion energy and is based in Vancouver, Canada, with locations in Washington D.C., and London, U.K. The company was established in 2002 and is funded by a global syndicate of leading energy venture capital firms, industry leaders, and technology pioneers. Learn more at www.generalfusion.com.
