In article , J. Clarke wrote:
Fusion is a "fueled technology". Considering that the amount of
hydrogen in the solar system is many times the mass of the Earth, if
we ever need to move beyond fusion we're screwed anyway.

Never mind the hydrogen available in the rest of the solar system -- there's
more than enough available right here.

The main obstacle to getting from here to there is the same people who
are demanding that we abandon "fueled technologies". They seem to
think that solar power is not "fueled" or something. I see little
difference between using fuel burned 93 million miles away and using
fuel burned ten feet away.

I've seen estimates of the sun's remaining lifespan ranging from a few hundred
million years, to a few billion years. Either end of this range constitutes an
effectively infinite resource.

With respect to the *mass* available for fuel (whether chemical or nuclear),
this planet is for all practical purposes a closed system, and therefore the
fuel available ten feet (or ten miles, or ten thousand miles) away must be
considered a finite resource.

Until we develop a practical means of generating power by nuclear fusion, that
is.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.