Benefits of Fusion
Energy Supply: The #1 Challenge of the 21st Century
The world’s population is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2040, driving global demand for electricity up by 45%¹. Meeting this demand with the technologies available today will require that fossil fuels remain a primary means of electricity generation. To sustain economic growth while at the same time overcoming climate change, we need to develop sources of energy that are emission-free, safe, globally available and economically viable.
Fusion has the unique capability to provide utility-scale energy on-demand wherever it is needed, making it an excellent complement for intermittent renewables and battery storage. Combined, these technologies make for a practical energy portfolio that mitigates climate change while driving economic prosperity.
¹ EIA International Energy Outlook 2017
Advantages of Fusion
Clean
Fusion produces zero greenhouse gas emissions, emitting only helium as exhaust. It also requires less land than other renewable technologies.
Safe
Fusion energy is inherently safe, with zero possibility of a meltdown scenario and no long lived waste.
Abundant
There is enough fusion fuel to power the planet for hundreds of millions of years. A fusion power plant runs on deuterium and tritium, isotopes which can be extracted from seawater and derived from lithium.
On Demand
Fusion can produce energy on-demand, and is not affected by weather. Because it is also safe and produces no pollution, a fusion power plant can be located close to where it is required.
Zero-emission, safe power on-demand using existing grid infrastructure
Fusion power is an energy source the world urgently needs, and General Fusion is pursuing the most practical path to the world’s first commercially-viable fusion power plant.
Nature’s Way of Making Energy
Fusion powers the sun and the stars, where gravity compresses hydrogen gas to the temperatures required for fusion. The challenge for fusion energy is how to create those conditions on Earth in a controlled way that can be used to provide power. Fusion occurs when atoms are heated to very high temperatures, causing them to collide at high velocity and fuse together. When two light nuclei collide to form a heavier nucleus the process releases a large amount of energy. The most practical fusion reaction uses isotopes of hydrogen named “deuterium” and “tritium”. These can be extracted from seawater and derived from lithium, both in abundant supply. There is enough fusion fuel on earth to power the planet for hundreds of millions of years.
Approaches to Fusion
Fusion energy technology has developed a variety of different ways create and maintain the extreme temperatures required for fusion.
Progress Fuelled by a Global Effort
The promise of fusion – clean, safe and abundant energy – has made it the focus of research since the 1950s. Recent advances in plasma physics, simulation, electronics and engineering have now brought us closer than ever to making fusion energy a reality.