It’s time for a fusion energy roadmap – Growing energy demand coupled with global warming creates a unique opportunity for clean fusion energy. Now is the time for an international network to develop a realistic roadmap for laser-driven inertial confinement fusion and a sustainable energy future

From the article

>Nuclear energy obtained from the fission of uranium or other heavy elements is a generally clean energy source, but as a solution it suffers from the safe storage of long-lasting radioactive waste as well as potential nuclear disasters and uncontrolled chain reactions due to malfunctioning. Due to these considerations, the most recent progress in fusion energy research has gained much public and economic attention. Fusion energy technology promises to provide safe and greenhouse-gas-free clean energy without the disadvantages of volatile availability like renewables or the previously mentioned threats to humans.

>In the broad technical landscape of fusion energy research done since 2021, there has been disruptive and revolutionary progress in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) from the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. For the first time, researchers demonstrated alpha-particle self-heating in a laser pre-compressed deuterium-tritium fuel, similar to fusion conditions in our sun, and obtained more output fusion energy than the optical laser energy provided into the target. The laser energy input was about two millijoules, which requires a large-scale laser facility of tremendous initial and running costs.

>Now that ICF-driven fusion has been successfully demonstrated, the big question is: Can it be commercialized? And will it be reliable and cheap enough to meet future energy needs and prices? Although startups seek investments and private-public partnerships, we observe a hesitation by investors because of yet unsolved technical challenges resulting in uncertain roadmaps and the significant upfront capital expenditure within the range of multiple billion dollars that would be needed. The supply chain industry generally sees an attractive future business opportunity in ICF power plants, if it works. But they are hesitant as well since longer-lasting roadmaps are not yet described or are not truly practical yet.

>Now is the time to develop a more realistic roadmap for ICF—with clear milestones on reasonable timelines to not only address the technical challenges but also create/align an international network of political collaboration.

Grid scale fusion is still science fiction at this point. Even if we could solve the engineering problems, the deuterium-tritium path is the most viable… and we have to somehow get the fuel. Ionizing and burning water remains a far off dream. I support massive funding, but to bet the future of our biosphere on developing this tech in the appropriate time-frame is fool hearty at best.