Many people have the opinion that “fusion is twenty years away, and it’s been like that for decades.” That is partially true. For decades, there have been small advances in fusion research. That is no longer true. The reason for the lack of progress is not the science, but how the research was funded. A few large projects with continued delays and budget overruns captured the majority of funding for decades. One lab was dismantled because of lack of funds before completing its research goals and another was canceled for demonstrating an ineffective approach. It’s tough to advance research of any type when a lab is shut down for a year or more before funding was restored, which was a recent issue with the MIT Alcator-C.
Meanwhile, many small private research teams spend years working to achieve government or other research grants for a fraction of those amounts to fund an experiment that may take weeks or months to complete. They work on a shoestring budget, achieve sufficient scientific success to publish in scientific journals. Then start the cycle again developing another round of tests to complete years later.
Research projects to harness fusion energy date back to the 1950s. After the oil embargo in the 1970s, a proposal was sent to the President in 1976 claiming fusion research was decades and billions of dollars away. Since then, advances in other technologies such as metallurgy, manufacturing precision, and even digital technology have
reduced the finances for advancing fusion energy research. Funding nearing almost
half a billion dollars have been invested in various fusion projects. While the cost of developing fusion technology might have been in the billions in the previous century. Laboratories can now demonstrate basic technology for a few million dollars or less. The
IEEE Spectrum Magazine refers to startups building prototype systems for tens of millions of dollars. These independent teams are developing different approaches to harness fusion energy. Specific examples include:
- General Fusion – This startup is based in British Columbia, Canada is developing a Magnetized Target Fusion system. They are currently working on a full-scale prototype system showing a net gain in energy. Michel Leberge completed a TED Talk describing their approach.
- Lockheed Martin – This company is known for their military and space technology. They are developing a “Compact Fusion” module within their SkunkWorks program that could generate 100 Megawatts and fit on the back of a truck. Their goal is to upgrade existing power plants from natural gas to fusion energy and power aircraft with almost limitless range. There is a 2013 Solve for X video describing their efforts towards the goal of a prototype reactor in five years.
- EMC2 Fusion Development Corporation – This Company was founded by Dr. Robert Bussard in 1985 as Energy/Matter Conversion Corporation to develop Polywell Fusion. Most of the funding has been completed through Navy grants. This company is an example of the sporadic history of fusion research funding. Dr. Jaeyoung Park presented at Microsoft Research in January, 2015 about their approach and next steps.
- Lawrenceville Plasma Physics – This small team has been working on “aneutronic fusion” (Hydrogen fuses with Boron to create an unstable Carbon atom that breaks down to 3 ionized helium atoms). Shooting an ionized stream through a wire coil generates electricity without steam. Eric Lerner has presented at Google and Oxford University and published papers in Physics of Plasmas and with references, in the Magazines Science, Nature and IEEE Spectrum. This team is demonstrating advances in fusion energy with a budget well under $500K/year. Additional funding for this team would accelerate their development.
- Electron Power Systems of Acton, Massachusetts is another small funded startup that uses an innovative approach generating high-density “self-stable” plasma toroids at room temperature. Founders of the company have had papers published in science journals like Physics of Plasmas and Fusion Technology. Their approach is similar to work at the University of Missouri. They are also looking for seed funding.
- Helion Energy of Redmond, Washington raised $1.5 million in Venture Capital in late 2014 for developing a fusion system by accelerating hot plasma from two ends of the system into a collision in a middle chamber. The reaction also creates ionized plasma that can be used to generate electricity without steam. They aim to have a commercial plant in six years.
- Tri Alpha Energy – is a startup that is trying to stay below the radar screen. Their technology approach similar to Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, with funding over $100 million since 1998 from a few billionaire investors, but details about this startup are very limited. They may be the only exception of a well-funded fusion startup.
If you compared these examples, you could find few similarities in their approach or design. Some of them use some form of kinetic energy from a plasma collision to increase the energy to generate fusion, something impossible within a tokomak filled with plasma or lasers. Most are working on “small-scale” research, proving their theories in small machines before scaling up for pilot demo machines. Production systems will cost even less with volume manufacturing of devices that can fit into shipping containers. Supporting upgrades of fossil fuel plants to cheaper, cleaner fusion energy.
A more appropriate description is plasma technology; a scientific discipline similar to chemistry. Plasma is what glows in florescent lamps and the northern lights, creates images in old television tubes and used in semiconductor manufacturing. Chemistry can be used for many things, part of which is the use of chemical fuels to power engines for transportation and turbines for electrical power generation. In the same vein, fusion research is a sub-discipline of plasma research. Plasma technology can generate electrical power or thrust for interplanetary travel. Since different engine designs utilize chemistry, it would be expected that there would be different approaches for harnessing power through plasma and fusion energy.
Modern civilization relies on fossil fuels delivered by carbon fuel colossus that powers our civilization and poisons our planet. These companies are developing technology to undermine civilization’s concept of a fuel supply and disrupt the control on the spigot of energy for mankind. Releasing incredible opportunities of this new energy source for mankind and phenomenal wealth for the shrewd investors who make their stake in these pioneers of plasma technology.