Fusion is the future of the global energy sector and the first fusion power plant is due to begin operations imminently. The world’s first commercial fusion power plant should break ground in the next few years. The global race for commercial fusion is on while the fusion-powered future is just beginning.
A nuclear fusion reactor in South Korea has set a new record, superheating a plasma loop to 100 million degrees Celsius for 48 seconds. The Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) announced in a statement that the Korea Superconducting Tomak Advanced Research (KSTAR) reactor had broken its previous record of 31 seconds, Euronews reports.
Nuclear fusion, the process that powers the Sun and stars, merges two atomic nuclei into a larger one. Both reactions release large amounts of energy, but with nuclear fusion, there is a high energy yield and low nuclear waste production. Fusion occurs when two light atoms bond together, or fuse, to make a heavier one.
Fusion energy projects and start-ups around the world may pursue the goal of fusion energy in different ways by playing to their distinctive strengths.
The stellarator could see a comeback in fusion energy research, after years of tokamak focus, which could mean fusion electricity on the grid in the 2030s.
Top energy news: IRENA on why COP is a huge moment for renewables; nuclear start-up claims fusion milestone; huge clean energy hub planned for Australia.
Advanced nuclear technologies range from fusion and small modular reactors (SMRs) to nuclear fuels and waste management, and they can help address some of the concerns around safety and cost. While nuclear fusion is often dubbed as the holy grail of energy, it is also in the early stages of realization.
Here too, fusion can supply the solution, potentially allowing for a vast reduction in the land-use footprint of agriculture and shortening the supply chain for fruits and vegetables by growing them in indoor farms much closer to urban centres, if not within city limits.
Nuclear fusion could transform the world's energy system, our lives and our homes. The latest breakthrough announced by the US Department of Energy gives new momentum.
Kim Budil oversaw the recent fusion breakthrough in the pursuit of clean, abundant energy at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She told the Forum what happens next.
