Can Fusion Energy Save Us?

Well, maybe, someday. What is fusion energy? Fusion results when two positively charged hydrogen atoms are smashed together to form helium and a heck of a lot of energy. This is what happens inside stars. Stars use their gravity to compress and thus heat hydrogen. So, how do we build a star? Enter the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics and it’s collaboration with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. In August 2021, for the first time, the latter was able to produce more fusion energy than the electrical power needed to generate it. They did this using intersecting laser beams to heat hydrogen atoms (using deuterium and/or tritium) to 150,000,000°F (this process has to be contained in magnetic fields since no metals can withstand these temperatures—much like the storage of anti-matter that “propels the star-ship Enterprise”).

But just as renewable energy is decades away from matching fossil fuel energy’s output, fusion energy is likely decades away from being practically and commercially viable. Thus, in the meantime we’re stuck with our existential decision about whether to drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels to net zero by 2040 and implement renewable energy and carbon capture, or just continue as we are. The former means a huge hit for global gross national production, the latter, well, maybe human extinction. If we decide the former, NOW is the time.