New Energy Source — Natural Radioactive Decay

For planetary scientists one of the biggest mysteries is trying to figure out where all the heat Earth pours into space originates. The planet ejects about 44 Tera watts of power of heat into space every second.

New research from Japan’s Kamioka Liquid-scintillator Anti-Neutrino Detector (KamLAND) detector may have accounted for about half of that by studying a giant balloon filled with mineral oil. For seven years geophysicists have been looking for rare antimatter particles called antineutrinos that are created when decaying nuclear elements interact with protons in the oil. During that time they saw 100 antineutrinos.

By doing some quick calculations they discovered that based on the number of events they collected, half of the energy Earth is continuously producing is from radioactive elements in the center of the planet.

Heat from the center of the Earth drives many natural processes including sea-floor spreading, continental drift and the planet’s magnetic field.

Scientists discovered that the heat generated from radioactive decay of elements such as uranium and thorium emits about 20 Tera watts of power per second. Known as geothermal energy in renewable energy circles this could be a constant source of power that won’t run out for a long time.

Scientists estimate that capturing geothermal heat from natural nuclear fission could power the entire planet for hundreds of millions of years thanks to the long half lives of many of the elements.

The rest of the heat comes from primordial heat, left over from the planet’s formation 4.5 billion years ago. Geophysicists aren’t sure if there are other processes in the Earth’s core to explain that additional heat source but you can be sure they will keep looking.