Memmel: "As far as crossections etc all I can say as showme :)"

Here is WB6 in a vacuum machine,

In page 14 of the should google go nuclear PDF linked to above, Bussard reports

"On November 9 and 10, 2005 they obtained DD fusion
at about 10 KV, with B fields of 1300 Gauss, in a 30 cm
diameter device. It produced a pulse of DD fusions at
109 fusions/second that was 200,000 times higher then
anything that Hirsch and Farnsworth had ever achieved
in any experiment they had ever done for similar well
depths and drive conditions."

According to emc2fusion.org this "agreed with rate predicted by theory" and "confined electrons as the computer models said it should".

When the funding was cut to the lab they decided to run WB6 with as much power as it could handle, that's how they got the above results. (On the last test run it was broken perhaps a magnet short circuited, they didn't get the results until they were computed a month later).

Now WB7 an improved version of and the same size as WB6 has been built to reproduce and verify the results obtained from WB6. Here it is achieving first plasma in January (a larger image is on emc2fusion.org):

Richard Nebel who is leading this project said "The initial analysis showed that Bussard's data on energy yields were consistent with expectations", according to a report here http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/13/224458/454/929/436375

But I'm not sure that info is accurate, because they were reporting on first plasma, at the time of the report first fusion may not have yet been achieved.

Next they may build WB8 another device similar in scale to WB6 and WB7, but with an alternative (truncated icosahedron) topology which may more efficiently trap electrons. After that if the results are ok if funding can be obtained the plan is to build WB1000. The full scale net power gain model, that is if Bussard's prediction that power gain scales with the 5 power of the radius is correct.

Hopefully Nebel reports more results. But he may have to go under embargo publishing like Bussard.

Maybe fusion will help or maybe it will accelerate peak food and other problems as you suggest. Anyway thanks for the discussion about it, it has helped improve my understanding.

Regarding Penning Paul traps, I will look at the links you have provided. Your suggestion to consider mechanically spinning both the electrodes and magnets sounds interesting, thanks, I will think about it.

Regarding the carrying capacity of the earth, well you could be right. I hope for the best but I can see the logic in planning for the worst.

Memmel: "What I mean by living within our means is only using a small portion of the best lands say less then 10% so that all the natural ecosystems remain intact". This sounds nice but I don't know how it can be achieved in practice it's difficult to get people to practice population control. I could see the planet getting more crowded with cheap power. We might irrigate the deserts and colonize them and also build colonies in the oceans.

Thanks again for the discussion.