In a further effort to convince others of the benefits of fusion energy, you use the data from Problem 72 to estimate how long the deuterium in the world’s oceans (average depth 3 km) could supply humanity’s energy needs at the current consumption rate of about 16 TW. You then compare this with the Sun’s remaining lifetime, about 5 billion years. What do you find?

Data From problem 72

You’re enthusiastic about fusion energy, and you want to convince others of the enormous fuel resource represented by the 0.015% of hydrogen nuclei that are actually deuterium. Using an average of 7.2 MeV per deuteron, you calculate the energy that would be released if all the deuterium in a gallon of seawater underwent fusion, and you compare your result with the energy in a gallon of gasoline. What do you find for the gasoline equivalent of a gallon of seawater?