antimatter i belive.
According to Wikipedia Dilithium Crystals are used in the ships warp reactor core and matter and anti matter are directed into the crystals to create plasma which powers the ship.
EDIT: Gah tired of editing this. Read up: Category:Propulsion technology - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki .
i was thinking that perhaps Dilithium Crystals power the warp engins and deterium powered the impulse engins and the ship could get power from either engin or the aux fusion reactors as long as the convertors were working.:confused: but your idea sounds good too.:nodding:
From Memory Alpha
The antimatter containment, also protected by magnetic fields, funnels the antimatter through the antimatter engine to injector coils, which precisely compresses and streams the antimatter into the form which enters the dilithium articulation frame. Deuterium, stored in the ship or attracted by the Bussard collectors, is funneled in a stream from the opposite deuterium injector. The molecules enter the lattice matrix of the crystallized dilithium, reacting within it and releasing a tuned energy stream in the form of electro-plasma, a highly energetic form of plasma. The electro-plasma is carried by magnetic plasma conduits throughout the power transfer system. In the Federation power transfer grid, this is the electro-plasma distribution network, comprising of EPS conduits and EPS taps. The most energized stream created is the warp plasma, which exits in twin power transfer conduits connected to the warp nacelles. (citation needed - edit)
During the 23rd century, dilithium crystals were also used in Klingon warp reactions to generate energy at sufficient levels to enable warp flight. A difference noticed in the 24th century was that Klingon engines use a tritium intermix (tritium/antitritium) rather than a deuterium intermix. (DS9: "When It Rains...")
Warp core - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki
So the proper answer is....both.
Deuterium and Anti-Deuterium are injected into the Dilithium Crystals where they react and the energy is attenuated by the Dilithium crystals to create a form of plasma which is then used to power the ship.
From Wiki
Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual indicates that the impulse engines are nuclear fusion engines whereas the plasma from the fusion reactor powers a massive magnetic coil to propel the ship. It is a form of magnetoplasmadynamic thruster. This is used in conjunction with the ship's warp drive's alteration of the ships relativistic mass, to achieve mid-to-high sub-light speeds.
Impulse drive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
but i would rather known how much each ship consumes per lightyear like we do with our cars. I think an excelsior uses more then a galaxy and an intrepid consumes less then a galaxy.
I'm pretty sure they're quite efficient. Watching Voyager may give you a clue as to how efficient, because I remember they had to land on that demon-class planet to find deuterium (Which is an actual element by the way. So is tritium). I guess they produce their own anti-deuterium on the ship.
Deuterium and anti-deuterium are the fuel for the warp reactor. The dilithium is used to help regulate the reaction.
Deuterium is probably used just like it is used today as a fuel for the fusion reactors in the impulse engines.
Deuterium is really a stable hydrogen isotope. Most hydrogen doesn't have a neutron, but deuterium does. As a result it is heavier than normal hydrogen.
The nucleus for anti-deuterium was first produced in 1965, however a complete anti-deuterium atom has yet to be produced.