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A Global Effort for Creating a Small Sun on Earth: The ITER Project
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Ms. Shikha Binwal*
Email: binwal.shikha@gmail.com
The human population on earth has witnessed tremendous growth due to advancements in medical and health care standards. This has resulted in an enhancement in life expectancy and a reduction in mortality rate. Owing to these factors, the population on earth has shot up to 7.7 billion in 2019 and is estimated to rise up to 11.5 billion by 2100. The sky shooting trends in population, according to the demographics, is shown in the graph below {picture credit: https://ourworldindata.org}.
This tremendous increase in population demands more energy consumption, and hence more burden on the earth and its climate. A recent report issued by the World Resources Forum states that approximately 40 billion tonnes of resources have already been
extracted from the earth. It is estimated that the energy demands will triple by 2050 as the population grows to 9 billion.
Today, almost 80% of the world’s energy needs are met by fossil fuels, liquid petroleum and nuclear fuels. We have to realize that these sources are non-renewable and destined to vanish sooner or later. Additionally, burning fossil fuels adds to the emission of CO2 gas
* Ms. Shikha Binwal, PhD Scholar from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, is pursuing her research on “Investigation of Plasma Dynamics in a Magnetized Capacitive Coupled Radio Frequency Discharge”. Her popular science story entitled “A Global Effort for Creating a Small Sun on Earth: The ITER Project” has been selected for AWSAR Award.