There are 60,000 carbon-emitting power plants on our planet.
What if we could create a little bit of sun here on earth—self-sustaining clean energy with few to no radioactive waste?
That has always sounded like a pipe dream, but maybe not now.
On August 8, 2021, Lawrence Livermore Labs National Ignition facility achieved scientific ignition or a burning plasma state, which is self-sustaining fusion energy, resulting in over 1.3 megajoules (MJ) of energy. They essentially created a mini star. This enables a nearly unlimited amount of emission-free energy without and long-lasting radioactive waste that nuclear fission produces.
Whereas Nuclear fission creates energy by splitting atoms, nuclear fusion is created when two lighter nuclei, such as hydrogen, combine to form a single heavier one, such as helium. Fusion reactions take place in a state of matter called plasma—a hot charge state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei are formed that can generate massive amounts of energy.
Consistently recreating fusions power at less cost than carbon-emitting plants and delivering it to the grid in a commercially viable model is by most accounts projected to take over a decade, but the race is on. And it's not just DoE-backed projects (ten are funded). Private investment in nuclear fusion doubled its entire investment to date in a single year. Nuclear Fusion attracted more than $3 billion in 2021 alone, including Google, Bill Gates, George Saros, Jeff Bezos, and others. Energy companies, including ENI, Equinor, Cenovus, and Chevron, are also investing.
Here's the obstacle that investors are betting they can overcome. Artificially igniting nuclear fusion requires a large amount of energy concentrated on a small scale for a moment. Right now, that's not cost-effective or repeatable.
Here's a good article that reviews some of the companies and investors willing to take that bet.
Let me know what you think!
Mark
