The ultimate and infinite energy has finally been found. It is 50 million kilometers away (in the metaphorical sense, of course) and they are going to extract it. We all need energy to carry out our daily tasks. For this reason, humanity urgently needs to find new ways of obtaining it. In the context of the energy transition in which we are immersed, we have witnessed ambitious projects such as the largest alliance in the history of Europe to produce renewable energy.
For a long time, we have been using fossil fuels to power cars and various machines that make our lives easier. However, these are exhaustible sources and scientists want to find alternative sources that we can use, such as solar energy.
This harnesses sunlight to produce electricity from it. Faced with the imposed demand, finding new energy alternatives is no longer a desire, but a necessity. It is not an easy task. In this context, a group of people has proposed a project that breaks with all the schemes, but it could work.
Infinite energy arrives: you’d never guess where it is
Former Blue Origin employees want to harvest helium-3 from the Moon. For millions of years, the surface of the Moon has been under the influence of the solar wind, carrying high-energy particles that carry helium-3.
Although this element is difficult to find on Earth, it has recently become a commodity in demand by several industries, including those working on quantum computing and nuclear fusion reactors.
Helium-3 is considered such a valuable element that one company has shown interest in going to the Moon to obtain it. The startup Interlune recently announced that it had raised $15 million as part of its plan to harvest and sell natural resources brought back from the Moon.
Helium-3, the infinite energy we’ve been waiting for
The corporation wants to focus its attention on harvesting helium-3, which it can sell to government and commercial customers in the national security, quantum computing, medical imaging and fusion energy industries.
Interlune conveyed as much. “There is a growing demand for helium-3 in burgeoning and potentially massive industries,” expounds Alexis Ohanian, one of the lead investors in the company’s latest venture.
He adds, “We invested in Interlune because access to the vast cache of helium-3 and other precious natural materials on the Moon and beyond will unlock or accelerate technological breakthroughs currently hampered by lack of supply.”
Interlune sees The Moon as the perfect place to extract infinite energy
The Interlune company had its founding in 2020 by former Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson and former chief architect Gary Lai, Harrison Schmitt, the only living member of Apollo 17, NASA’s last manned mission to the Moon.
“For the first time in history, harvesting natural resources from the Moon is technologically and economically feasible,” Meyerson says in a statement. Yes it is feasible, but the company has yet to figure out how to do it.
The latest round of funding is a big step, but there is still a long way to go. Interlune is working on the design of its first robotic landing mission, which will make checks of helium-3 levels in the lunar space chosen by the firm for its first operation.
Energy, found in space: the proejct to reach this renewable and futuristic source
Its claims are still at an early stage, but Interlune aims to launch a new era for the lunar economy, notably by becoming the first brand to harvest and sell natural resources extracted from the Moon. A futuristic, but real business model.
In short, Interlune believes it has found the ultimate infinite energy on the Moon. Only time will tell if they achieve their goal and set a precedent in history. In the meantime, there are other fascinating projects underway to achieve new energies, such as alternative fuels.