> The fusion announcement is great news but sadly it won't help in our battle to lessen the effects of climate change.
> There's huge uncertainty about when fusion power will be ready for commercialisation. One estimate suggests maybe 20 years. Then fusion would need to scale up, which would mean a delay of perhaps another few decades.
> And here's the problem: the need for carbon-free energy is urgent - and the government has pledged that all electricity in the UK must be zero emissions by 2035. That means nuclear, renewables and energy storage.
> In the words of my colleague Jon Amos: "Fusion is not a solution to get us to 2050 net zero. This is a solution to power society in the second half of this century."
Between promising results like this, the Wendelstein-7X (which sadly seems to have been delayed by COVID), and then the exceptionally exciting CFS in Massachusetts, I have a sense that we're making real progress toward fusion for the first time in a few decades. Doom and gloom won't do anything to increase investment in fusion that is beginning to look like a reasonable bet.
> There's huge uncertainty about when fusion power will be ready for commercialisation. One estimate suggests maybe 20 years. Then fusion would need to scale up, which would mean a delay of perhaps another few decades.
> And here's the problem: the need for carbon-free energy is urgent - and the government has pledged that all electricity in the UK must be zero emissions by 2035. That means nuclear, renewables and energy storage.
> In the words of my colleague Jon Amos: "Fusion is not a solution to get us to 2050 net zero. This is a solution to power society in the second half of this century."
Between promising results like this, the Wendelstein-7X (which sadly seems to have been delayed by COVID), and then the exceptionally exciting CFS in Massachusetts, I have a sense that we're making real progress toward fusion for the first time in a few decades. Doom and gloom won't do anything to increase investment in fusion that is beginning to look like a reasonable bet.