  We present first principles simulations of the direct collisionless coupling
of the free energy of fusion-born ions into electron current in a magnetically
confined fusion plasma. These simulations demonstrate, for the first time, a
key building block of some "alpha channelling" scenarios for tokamak
experiments. A fully self-consistent electromagnetic 1D3V particle-in-cell code
is used to evolve a parallel drifting ring-beam distribution of 3MeV protons in
a 10keV thermal deuterium-electron plasma with realistic mass ratio. Collective
instability gives rise to electromagnetic field activity in the lower hybrid
range of frequencies. These spontaneously excited obliquely propagating waves
undergo Landau damping on resonant electrons, drawing out an asymmetric tail in
the distribution of electron parallel velocities, which carries a current.
