“Perhaps Andorra would be open if Putin had attacked earlier”
Putin, the war in Ukraine, the electricity bill… All current events are related to and even governed by energy. Nothing new, according to the CSIC researcher Javier Campo and confirmed the evidence.
What would we be without energy?
Something very different. Energy is the light that illuminates this table, the machine that has made us coffee, our mobile phones… Everything that we are and that which surrounds us is energy.
To do?
To do. When we eat, the gasoline, the fuel, is the food. That is the energy that, after its transformation, moves us.
What does it mean to control energy?
It is equivalent to controlling the world. It is nothing new. The discovery of fire meant a before and after.
That was more than a million years ago, long before the Neolithic.
That’s it. Before the Neolithic, before the creation of agriculture and livestock. The control of fire meant an enormous advance: being able to cook food and shelter from the cold. He who controlled the fire, controlled the energy.
Now, in our days, Russia has the largest energy reserves on the planet.
A high percentage of world gas is sold from Russia. And Spain is supplied with it, for example, in a large percentage. And Russia, just like another world power like China, would say that they are far from being a certified democracy.
Russia invaded Ukraine months ago. The war continues…
It’s still the same as the gas that flows from Russia, if Putin doesn’t cut it off, of course, everything will be seen…
Are we in your hands?
Energetically, there is an irrefutable dependency. Russia has enormous energy resources. Europe depends on them.
Have energy variables varied over time?
Yes. For example, nuclear energy, according to the European Commission, has now been classified as green energy, just like gas.
Do you defend nuclear energy?
It has its advantages, and not a few.
For example?
It does not emit CO2, something essential due to the influence of fossil fuels on climate change. There is the problem of waste. You have to make them shorter-lived.
Accidents such as Chernobyl or Fukushima must also be assessed.
How many nuclear accidents have there been in France?
Not constant many, no…
none Today France produces nuclear energy and sells it to us. 500 nuclear power plants are being built in the world. In Spain, none. There are factors that have influenced, such as public opinion, which in France is in favor. In Spain the nuclear has been demonized. Of course, if Putin had attacked earlier, perhaps the Andorra plant would be open.
How is the problem resolved?
Fission is today’s nuclear power. Fusion (with u) is the future: joining two atoms, two isotopes of hydrogen. Putting them together creates a different atom and a lot of energy is released.
And there is no hydrogen…
The problem is that we are talking about the year 2050. Until then, the world has to go on. We have to continue operating with current energies. We cannot do without any.
What has been your scientific itinerary in the last month?
A congress in Maryland, another in Portland, experiments in the Sydney nuclear reactor, I came to Zaragoza for four days and went to the International Neutron Conference in Buenos Aires, and finally to Chile.
And the following appointments in your research agenda?
Tomorrow I fly to Vancouver.
What are you going to do there, with how cold it is in Canada…?
Muon experiments.
Muons…?
They are subatomic particles, like the electron or the neutron… A very interesting topic that I will tell you about when I return.