Fusion breakthrough thrills physicists, but won’t power your home soon
Image: Frickin’ laser beams at the National Ignition Facility. (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
A reported breakthrough in fusion energy is generating enormous excitement amongst scientists and the general public alike — but you might not want to bet on fusion providing usable energy during your lifetime.
Experimental results set to be announced by the U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday are being hyped as potentially heralding a new era of zero-carbon energy from the power of a controlled fusion reaction, the same reaction that powers our sun.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has evidence of a net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time, according to people with knowledge of preliminary results from a recent experiment, as first reported by the Financial Times. The lab confirmed to the paper that a successful experiment had recently been conducted at its National Ignition Facility but said analysis of the results was ongoing.
For 70 years, physicists have tried to get more energy out of a fusion reaction than it took to create the reaction — a net energy gain. Government research labs and, more recently, privately funded startups have attempted to unlock this theorized but unproven power of the atom. This is the first time anyone appears to have succeeded.
This could truly be a breakthrough, but there are still a lot of “ifs”:
- If the math and measurement works.
- If the experiment is repeatable and controllable.
- If the energy from the reaction can be efficiently transformed into usable power.
- If the tritium fuel can be obtained in sufficient quantities.
- If there is an economic pathway to commercialize the technology.
That’s a lot of uncertainty to be overcome before this development could lead to clean grid energy at scale.
Lasers vs. magnets
The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Lab is a laser-based inertial confinement fusion research machine that focuses 192ginormous laser beams onto a pea-sized hydrogen fuel target for a few billionths of a second. These high-powered lasers combine to ignite the fuel pellet and create a contained plasma reaction.
Most of the venture-capital funding of fusion startups has gone toward companies trying to use different methods of producing a reaction — primarily magnetic confinement of the plasma, where the plasma is stabilized by massive magnets and heated to extraordinary temperatures so the nuclei can fuse. Fusion startups such as Avalanche Energy, Commonwealth Fusion, Helion Energy, TAE Technologies and Zap Energy have won more than $4 billion in venture funding in the last few years as investors such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos have become intrigued with the technology.
According to the Financial Times, the fusion reaction at the U.S. lab produced about 2.5 megajoules of energy, about 120 percent of the 2.1 megajoules of energy in the lasers. Two sources with knowledge of the results said the net energy gain had been greater than expected.
Again, if verified, this means scientists have gotten out more energy from the plasma than they applied. It means we have achieved “ignition,” and that’s a big deal.
Hype vs. reality
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, an assistant professor of physics at the University of New Hampshire, wrote on Twitter that the reported breakthrough is a “huge technical achievement,” but then she tempers enthusiasm by noting that it’s “not obvious it will lead to energy production even in decades.” And she points out that while there’s a net energy gain in one key sense, the project is far from achieving a net energy gain overall:
She warns: “press gonna oversell.” Keep that in mind if you’re seeing overheated enthusiasm in your news feed.
Bottom line: This is a big deal if you’re a fusion scientist and not of practical relevance if you’re a grid operator.
Eric Wesoff is the editorial director at Canary Media.
“We MUST respect this earth - it is all we have
Claudio Dametto - South Australia
“I will always Vote to Preserve Our World.
Liam McGregor - Western Australia
“A simple message that even a politician can understand
Felicity Crombach - Victoria
“Please show you care about our future generations!!
Phil Harmer - New South Wales
“Save our world , Life & health before profits.
Kerry Lillian - New South Wales
“Close down all coal mines and Do not mine gas . Make these Companies
Daniel Johnson - New South Wales
“We want carbon free energy!
Edan Clarke - New South Wales
“Feels good to be taking a voter action step
Beaver Hudson - New South Wales
“Great Initiative. Let’s Hold elected officials Accountable to their bosses, us!
John Paul Posada - New South Wales
“We need actions not words we need honest democratic govt We need a pm
Bob Pearce - South Australia
“Thank you for this great resource. I was feeling helpless. Even this small step
Silvia Anderson - Victoria
“If political parties continue receiving political donations, we will rarely have politicians working for
Dan Chicos - New South Wales
“I only vote for people who will take urgent action to restore a safe
Susie Burke - Victoria
“Current government is not representing the opinion of the majority of Australian to meet
Neil Price - Tasmania
“We are fighting to rescue our kids' future from those who seek to steal
Vanessa Norimi - Queensland
“No time to waste Now or Never My vote is for NOW
Rosalie White - Victoria
“I am only 9 but I already care
Ava Bell - New South Wales
“From New Lambton Uniting Church - Caring for our world is a moral imperative.
Niall McKay - New South Wales
“Our federal govt is an International climate Embarrassment - its about time they stepped
Oriana Tolo - Victoria
“Vote earth this time!
Sue Cooke - Queensland
“We are in one on the wealthiest countries in the world. we have the
rowan huxtable - New South Wales
“The climate Emergency is the public health opportunity and urgent priority of the 21st
Mike Forrester - Victoria
“If they want my vote they better act now
Barbara McNiff - New South Wales
“We need to act locally now for the earth. Our only home. Vote Earth
Anne Miller - New South Wales
“I often look at the places I've known all my life and see how
Jim Baird - New South Wales
“Strike one For people power!!! Democracy might prevail outside the current cronyism that faces
Lorraine Bridger - New South Wales
“Our federal politicians Are Afraid to make action on climate change a major election
Jennifer Martin - New South Wales
“climate election, let's go!
Fahimah Badrulhisham - New South Wales
“Great to see this website that is a focus on action for climate change
Lynette Sinclair - New South Wales
“Let’s show politicians and the Murdoch media that climate change is by far the
Jane Aitken - Australian Capital Territory
“If you want to stay in power You need to take action to stop
Jane Bulter - New South Wales
“We are all that stands between terminal climate change and the vulnerable. We are
Carol Khan - Queensland
“We need a Government that Believes this is real and not taking money from
Ken Gray - New South Wales
“I'm voting for my childrens future
Anneliese Alexander - New South Wales