China has conducted another major nuclear fusion experiment in its pursuit of creating a novel source of energy. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion energy reactor, dubbed China’s ‘artificial sun’ sustained plasma for a whopping 1,000 seconds, breaking the 403-second record it set in 2023, according to a report in Live Science, citing Chinese media reports.

Developing nuclear fusion for energy requirements has long been a goal of scientists but reaching temperatures over 100 million degrees Celsius and sustaining its long-term operation has always proved a challenge. However, by stabilising the system for 1,000 seconds, scientists believe a major milestone in the quest to improve the technology had been achieved.

“A fusion device must achieve stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is critical for the continuous power generation of future fusion plants,” Song Yuntao, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Chinese state media.

“We hope to expand international collaboration via EAST and bring fusion energy into practical use for humanity,” added Mr Song.

The nuclear reactor is yet to achieve ignition which is the point at which nuclear fusion creates its own energy and sustains the reactions. However, the new record is an encouraging step towards maintaining prolonged, confined plasma loops that may power future reactors.

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EAST and nuclear fusion

Chinese scientists have been operating EAST since 2006 with the reactor completing hundreds of thousands of tests so far. Buoyed by the success of EAST, China has already started the construction of a new generation of experimental fusion research facilities in east China’s Anhui Province, aiming to further accelerate the application and development of fusion energy.

Scientists regard nuclear fusion as the holy grail of energy. It is what powers our Sun as atomic nuclei are merged to create massive amounts of energy, which is the opposite of the fission process used in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants, where the heavy atom is split into multiple smaller ones.

Unlike fission, fusion emits no greenhouse gases and carries less risk of accidents or the theft of atomic material. By mimicking the natural reaction of the sun, scientists are hoping that the technology may help harness near-unlimited amounts of energy and help battle the energy crisis as well as power humanity’s exploration beyond the solar system.

A worker wearing a protective suit harvests potato tubers at a greenhouse under Yakeshi Senfeng Potato Industry Company, where seed potatoes are farmed through the aeroponics method, in Yakeshi, Inner Mongolia, China, June 16, 2024. The company has invested in aeroponic systems where plants are grown in the air under controlled conditions, and farmers are increasingly demanding potato varieties that are higher-yielding and less susceptible to disease.  “Some new and more aggressive (late blight) strains have begun to appear, and they are more resistant to traditional prevention and control methods,” said general manager Li Xuemin.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

In a research facility in the northwest of Beijing, molecular biologist Li Jieping and his team harvest a cluster of seven unusually small potatoes, one as tiny as a quail’s egg, from a potted plant.

Grown under conditions that simulate predictions of higher temperatures at the end of the century, the potatoes provide an ominous sign of future food security.

At just 136 grams (4.8 oz), the tubers weigh less than half that of a typical potato in China, where the most popular varieties are often twice the size of a baseball.

China is the world’s biggest producer of potatoes, which are crucial to global food security because of their high yield relative to other staple crops.

But they are particularly vulnerable to heat, and climate change, driven by fossil fuel emissions, is pushing temperatures to dangerous new heights while also worsening drought and flooding.

With an urgent need to protect food supplies, Li, a researcher at the International Potato Center (CIP) in Beijing, is leading a three-year study into the effects of higher temperatures on the vegetable. His team is focusing on China’s two most common varieties.

“I worry about what will happen in the future,” Li said. “Farmers will harvest fewer potato tubers, it will influence food security.”

Li’s team grew their crop over three months in a walk-in chamber set at 3 degrees Celsius above the current average temperature in northern Hebei and Inner Mongolia, the higher altitude provinces where potatoes are usually grown in China.

Their research, published in the journal Climate Smart Agriculture this month, found the higher temperatures accelerated tuber growth by 10 days, but cut potato yields by more than half.

Under current climate policies, the world is facing as much as 3.1 C of warming above pre-industrial levels by 2100, according to a United Nations report released in October.

Farmers in China say they are already feeling the effect of extreme weather events.

In Inner Mongolia, dozens of workers clutching white sacks rush to gather potatoes dug up from the soil before the next downpour.

“The biggest challenge for potatoes this year is the heavy rain,” said manager Wang Shiyi. “It has caused various diseases… and greatly slowed down the harvest progress.”

Meanwhile, seed potato producer Yakeshi Senfeng Potato Industry Company has invested in aeroponic systems where plants are grown in the air under controlled conditions.

Farmers are increasingly demanding potato varieties that are higher-yielding and less susceptible to disease, particularly late blight, which caused the Irish Potato Famine of the mid-19th century and thrives in warm and humid conditions.

“Some new and more aggressive (late blight) strains have begun to appear, and they are more resistant to traditional prevention and control methods,” said general manager Li Xuemin, explaining the Inner Mongolia-based company’s strategy.

The research by CIP, which is headquartered in Lima, is part of a collaborative effort with the Chinese government to help farmers adapt to the warmer, wetter conditions.

In the greenhouse outside Li’s lab, workers swab pollen on white potato flowers to develop heat-tolerant varieties.

Li says Chinese farmers will need to make changes within the next decade, planting during spring instead of the start of summer, or moving to even higher altitudes to escape the heat.

“Farmers have to start preparing for climate change,” Li said. “If we don’t find a solution, they will make less money from lower yields and the price of potatoes may rise.”