| You are thinking about the wrong order of magnitude. The sun emits ~3e26 J/s [1]. The internet claims hydrogen fusion generates between ~5-6.5e14 J/kg [2][3]. The internet claims there are ~5 trillion tons of known Hydrogen reserves [4] which is ~5e15 kg. So, if we perfectly fused all known Hydrogen reserves, that would be ~3e30 J, or ~1,000 seconds (~16 minutes) of total Sun output. The internet claims the Earth is ~260 ppm (~1/4000) Hydrogen by mass [4]. The Earth is ~6e24 kg. So, that is ~1.5e21 kg. So, if we perfectly fused all Hydrogen inside of Earth, that would be ~1e36 J or ~3e9 seconds (~100 years) of total Sun output. Portable fusion, if possible, would be great for localized power. But if a civilization wants long term power at total solar output scales, then only known source is total solar output. Nothing else known has enough fuel to support that level of usage, let alone the challenge of actually fusing that much material. [1] https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Educational/2/1/12 [2] https://www.quora.com/How-much-energy-is-produced-by-the-fus... [3] https://www.phys.ksu.edu/personal/wysin/astro/review9/p4.htm... [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_el... |