Europes energy crisis could shut down the Large Hadron Collider

Date:
Mon, 26 Sep 2022 21:00:00 +0000

Description:
Large Hadron Collider experiments like beauty might be put on ice for a few months, or even a year. CERN In light of Russia's war in Ukraine, CERN officials are considering the energy costs of particle physics experiments. The post Europes energy crisis could shut down the Large Hadron Collider appeared first on Popular Science .

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Large Hadron Collider experiments like beauty might be put on ice for a few months, or even a year. CERN

Europe is now suffering an energy crisis . The fallout from the invasion of Ukraine, resulting in the Russian government choking gas supplies , has
pushed the continents heating and electricity prices up to a much higher
order of magnitude.

In the heart of Europe, along the French-Swiss border, the particle physics laboratory at CERN is facing the same plight. This month, its been reported that CERN officials are drawing up plans to limit or even shut down the recently rebooted Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

If the LHC, the largest and most expensive collider in the world , does shut down for a short stint, it wouldnt be out of the ordinary for particle accelerator research. But if it has to go into hibernation for a longer period, complications might arise.

[Related: The green revolution is coming for power-hungry particle accelerators ]

Some say that CERN uses as much electricity as a small city, and theres some truth in that. By the groups own admission , in a year, its facility consumes about one-third the electricity as nearby Geneva, Switzerland. The exact numbers do vary from month to month and year to year, but the labs particle accelerators can account for around 90 percent of CERNs electric bill.

For an observer on the ground, its very easy to wonder why so much energy is going into arcane physics experiments involving subatomic particles, plasma, and dark matter . Given the current context and as part of its social responsibility, CERN is drawing up a plan to reduce its energy consumption this winter, Malys Nicolet, a spokesperson for the group, wrote in a press statement.

That said, CERN doesnt have the same utility concerns as the everyday
European as its energy strategy is already somewhat sustainable. The facility draws its power from the French grid, which sources more than two-thirds of its juice from nuclear fission the highest of any country in the world. Not only does that drastically reduce the LHCs carbon footprint, it also makes it far less reliant on imported fossil fuels.

But the French grid has another quirk: Unlike much of Europe, which relies on gas to heat its homes, homes in France often use electric heaters. As a result, local power bills can double during the cold months. Right now, 32 of the countrys 56 nuclear reactors are down for maintenance or repairs. The French government plans to bolster its grid against the energy crisis by switching most of them back on by winter.

[Related: Can Europe swap Russian energy with nuclear power? ]

But if that doesnt happen, CERN might be facing a power supply shortage. Even if the research giant stretched its budget to pay for power, there just might not be enough of it, depending on how Frances reactors fare. For this autumn, it is not a price issue, its an availability issue, Serge Claudet, chair of CERNs energy management panel, told Science .

Hibernation isnt exactly out of the ordinary for LHC, though. In the past, CERN has shut down the particle accelerator for maintenance during the
winter. This year is no exception: The colliders stewards plan to mothball it from November until March . If Europes energy crisis continues into 2023, the LHC pause could last well into the warmer months, if not longer.

CERN managers are exploring their options, according to the facilitys spokesperson. The French government might order the LHC not to run at times
of peak electric demand, such as mornings or evenings. Alternatively, to keep its flagship running, CERN might try to shut off some of the smaller accelerators that share the site.

But not all particle physicists are on board with prioritizing energy for a single machine I dont think you could justify running it but switching off everything else, says Kristin Lohwasser , a particle physicist at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom and a collaborator on ATLAS,
one of the LHCs experiments .

On the other hand, the LHC has more to lose by going dark for an indefinite amount of time. If it has to power down for a year or more, the colliders equipment, such as the detectors used to watch collisions at very small scales, might start to degrade. This is why no one would blankly advertise to switch off and just wait five years, says Lohwasser. It also takes a fair amount of energy to keep the LHC in a dormant state.

Even if CERNs accelerators arent running, the particle physicists around the world sifting through the data will still have plenty to work on. Experiments in the field produce tons of results : positions, velocities, and countless mysterious bits of matter from thousands of collisions. Experts can still
find subatomic artifacts hidden in the measurements as much as a decade after theyre logged. The flow of physics studies almost certainly wont cease on account of an energy crisis.

For now, the decision to power LHCs third run of experiments still remains up in the air. This week CERN officials will present a plan to the agencys governing authority on how to proceed. That solution will, in turn, be presented to the French and Swiss governments for consultation. Only after will the final decision be made public.

So far, I do not necessarily see a big concern from [physicists] about these plans, says Lohwasser. If CERN must take a back seat to larger concerns, then many in the scientific community will accept that.

The post Europes energy crisis could shut down the Large Hadron Collider appeared first on Popular Science . Articles may contain affiliate links
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Link to news story:
https://www.popsci.com/science/europe-gas-crisis-cern/


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