The promise of zero-carbon energy has long been too good to be true, but researchers say they’ve found a breakthrough in what’s known as fusion energy. Fusion energy is a process that occurs in our Sun and other stars and doesn’t emit greenhouse gasses or radioactive waste.
The Department of Energy is expected to announce tomorrow that researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California have used lasers to produce a nuclear fusion reaction that creates energy. NBC News’ Tom Costello shares more about what scientists are calling the “Holy Grail” of clean energy.
Basically the sun in a box. To talk about what this may mean in the long term implications I’m joined by Michael — CEO of T 80 technologies, the private fusion energy company. Michael, great to have you on the show. You have the tough job here of explaining this to our audience. In layman’s terms, explain exactly what’s being achieved here?
Today we congratulate our colleagues at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, many of whom we’ve known and worked alongside for decades in the pursuit of fusion.
The scientific break-even advancement represents a theory made reality. Fusion has long been dubbed the “holy grail” of clean energy and this advance brings us one step closer to true viability. Today’s net energy milestone validates a major breakthrough for the entire global field of fusion.
November 2022 | K. Phung | Review of Scientific Instruments | Paper
The magnetic diagnostics across TAE Technologies’ compact toroid fusion device include 28 internal and 45 external flux loops that measure poloidal flux and axial field strength, 64 three-axis
TAE Technologies, a private company founded to commercialize fusion energy with the cleanest environmental profile, has been awarded a highly competitive California Competes Grant by Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz).
The $17.4 million grant will directly support job creation in fusion development, as well as TAE’s rapidly expanding power management business.
November 2022 | M. Jimenez | Physics of Plasmas | Paper
Kinetic effects in plasma flow due to a finite ion temperature and ion reflections in a converging–diverging magnetic nozzle are investigated
with collisionless quasineutral hybrid simulations with kinetic ions and isothermal Boltzmann electrons.
Nuclear fusion is the reaction that powers stars and scientists say replicating it on Earth could produce all the energy we’ll ever need without the CO2.
Growing investment and collaboration are making nuclear fusion more viable than ever.