Meta-question about fusion energy -something I don't understand about the movement. I spent a few years as CTO of a company providing heat-to-electricity plants. We financed and built them off high-heat plants like natural gas turbines. The "fuel" was heat going up the stack - so it was essentially free. We still couldn't compete with conventional electricity plants, even with a $30/tonne price on carbon in Canada.
Geothermal energy is the same: sustainable, long-life electricity with no "fuel" costs, but it costs 2-3x as much to build a geothermal plant (in most areas, depends on geology) as e.g. a natural gas turbine powered plant, so the overall cost of electricity is much higher and you can't get financing.
How is fusion different? The fuel will be free and unlimited, but the "levelized cost of electricity", dominated by the capital cost of the plant, will still be much higher than other sources of electricity. I don't think there's a world -- even one where the onerous regulations go away and a market price on carbon is available -- where the LCOE of fusion power is less than that from natural gas, or even close.
Geothermal energy is the same: sustainable, long-life electricity with no "fuel" costs, but it costs 2-3x as much to build a geothermal plant (in most areas, depends on geology) as e.g. a natural gas turbine powered plant, so the overall cost of electricity is much higher and you can't get financing.
How is fusion different? The fuel will be free and unlimited, but the "levelized cost of electricity", dominated by the capital cost of the plant, will still be much higher than other sources of electricity. I don't think there's a world -- even one where the onerous regulations go away and a market price on carbon is available -- where the LCOE of fusion power is less than that from natural gas, or even close.