中国登月剑指新能源？

    自从前苏联于1976年在月球表面软着陆以来，还没有第二个国家完成过这样的壮举。因此，日前中国的玉兔号月球车登月令人震惊。中国太空探索的动机尚不明确，中国政府对此也三缄其口，但据信中国主要是为了月球表面和月表之下的物质：氦-3。

    氦-3是氦的一种轻型非放射性同位素，在地球上的储量几乎为零，然而在月球上储量却非常丰富。氦-3历来被认为是利用核聚变发电不可或缺的成分。科学家认为，核聚变发电将颠覆整个能源行业。氦-3的电能转化效率为60-70%，高于核裂变反应，而且转化过程中几乎不产生任何放射性废物。据威斯康星-麦迪逊大学（University of Wisconsin-Madison）工程学院研究副院长杰拉尔德•库尔肯斯基称，利用核聚变发电的另一个优势在于它产能巨大。库尔肯斯基预计，月球上氦-3中所蕴含的能量是地球上天然气、石油以及煤炭所蕴含的总能量的10倍。他解释称：“四十吨氦-3所产生的电能就可以满足全美2014年的电力需求。”

    普林斯顿等离子体物理实验室研究副主任迈克尔•扎恩斯多夫表示，美国和欧洲多年来一直在探索核聚变发电，而现在中国也开始尝试。扎恩斯多夫称：“随着人口增长，他们（中国）的能源需求大增，同时也急切希望摆脱环境污染问题。”如果中国能够利用氦-3，通过核聚变来发电，那就能解决环境污染这个大难题。中国的环境污染问题已经令一些高管和政客不满。而如果中国的污染问题得到解决，中国就有望成为能源大国，向那些希望减少自身对石油依赖的国家提供清洁能源。

    利用核聚变发电的障碍很明显。第一个问题就是如何将氦-3这种通常以气态存在的物质从月球上运走。这个过程将花费数十亿美元，甚至意味着要把氦-3运到地球上可能需要在月球上就地把氦-3转化成核聚变能。库尔肯斯基表示，对于氦-3的运输和转化是否可实现，美国联邦政府机构间尚未达成共识。“美国能源部认为，美国航空航天局无力登月运回氦-3，而美国航空航天局认为美国能源部没有资源和能力将氦-3转化为核聚变能。

    扎恩斯多夫指出，美国政府机构间缺乏共识并不意味着核聚变发电彻底没戏了。扎恩斯多夫称，欧盟、美国、日本、韩国、印度、中国以及俄罗斯在法国南部有一个名为“ITER”（国际热核实验反应堆）的合作项目，旨在“通过核聚变生产商品化能源”。这个项目已经运作了20多年，并于2007年签署了一项协定，以建立研发框架，在之后10年支持聚变能。项目预计今年将启动托卡马克大楼的建设，首批组件预计将于2014年到位。

    但中国似乎等不及了，最近的玉兔号月球车登月就是例证。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    No country had successfully completed a soft landing on the moon since the Soviet Union in 1976, which is why eyebrows were raised when China's rover Jade Rabbit landed on the lunar surface this past weekend. While China's motives for space exploration are not clear and the Chinese government is keeping quiet, their interest is expected to be in the substance that lies both above and below the moon's surface: helium-3.

    Helium-3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium that is nearly nonexistent on Earth, yet abundant on the moon, and has long been considered the missing piece needed to create fusion power. Scientists deem fusion power to be a potential game-changing source of energy. Helium-3 has a higher efficiency of conversion to electricity than fission, at a rate of 60-70%, and can produce energy with little to no radioactive waste. Another upside of fusion power according to Gerald L. Kulcinski, associate dean of research of college of engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the amount of energy it can produce. He estimates there is 10 times more energy in helium-3 on the moon than in all the natural gas, oil, and coal on the Earth combined. "Forty tons of helium-3 would provide all the electricity for the U.S. in 2014," Kulcinski explained.

    Michael C. Zarnstorff, deputy director of research for Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, says the U.S. and Europe have been trying to make fusion power for years, and now China is making an attempt: "They [China] need a lot more energy due to their increasing population, and they really want to get rid of the pollution problems they have." If China is able to harness helium-3 and produce fusion power they would be able to fix their massive pollution, which has soured some executives and politicians. If and when China's pollution problem is rectified, it could potentially become a major energy resource player and offer a clean energy option to countries looking to wean themselves from oil dependency.

    There are still significant roadblocks to harnessing fusion power. One of the first issues is transporting the helium-3 material from the moon, which naturally occurs as a gas. This will cost billions of dollars, and even moving the material back down to Earth would require the process of actually turning that helium-3 into fusion power while still on the moon. According to Kulcinski, there isn't an agreement between federal agencies if the transporting or conversion aspects are achievable. "The Department of Energy doesn't think NASA can go to the moon and bring back the material, while NASA doesn't think the Department of Energy has the resources or ability to be able to turn it into fusion power," he said.

    Zarnstorff pointed out that the lack of an agreement between U.S. agencies doesn't mean the effort for finding a way for fusion power is dead. He pointed to a joint project between the European Union, the U.S., Japan, Korea, India, China, and Russia in southern France called ITER (International Thermonucelar Experimental Reactor) that aims to "produce commercial energy from fusion." The project has been operating for more than 20 years, and in 2007 an agreement was signed to establish a framework for research and development supporting fusion energy over the course of 10 years. This year, ITER was projected to start the Tokamak Complex construction, and the first manufactured components are expected to arrive in 2014.

    Based on their voyage, it seems China didn't want to wait.