A gray, anonymous-looking building on an industrial estate south of the English city of Oxford seems an understated setting for this story. For this is where a group of technicians has been creating some of the hottest temperatures on planet Earth in the quest for an unlimited, carbon-free, relatively inexpensive and utterly transformative source of…
It’s been a long road, but recent advances mean we’re closing in on a game-changing technology.
Having raised more than $3 billion in 2021 from the likes of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, fusion developers insist this zero-carbon energy source could be a reality within a decade.
UJI, KYOTO PREF. – As world leaders vow to accelerate climate action to avert catastrophic changes to the planet, nuclear fusion is gathering momentum as a zero-emission energy source that is considered safer than current nuclear fission technology.
It’s been compared to everything from a holy grail to fool’s gold: the ultimate solution to clean, readily available energy or an expensive delusion diverting scarce money and brainpower from the urgent needs of rapidly addressing climate change.
Increasing public and private investment, experimental and technological breakthroughs, and a growing number of demonstration plants and testing facilities under development could bring fusion technology to the delivery era by mid-century. Global cooperation and effective regulation are vital in accelerating progress.
Fusion energy – a non-polluting, limitless form of power – has long been thought of as a technological fantasy. But now scientists say they are closer than ever to making it a reality.
Fusion is a suitable replacement for fossil fuels because it is carbon-free and provides equal or greater reliability with higher power density working in concert with conventional renewables to provide deep decarbonization across the entire energy ecosystem. This is the future that CEO Derek Sutherland, VP Chris Ajemian, and COO Scott Brennan of CTFusion are working towards.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems LLC said it has raised more than $1.8 billion in the largest private investment for nuclear fusion yet as startups race to be the first to generate carbon-free energy like the sun.
General Fusion Inc. raised $130 million from investors including billionaire Jeff Bezos to help develop a commercial reactor.