Karen Gibson
February 24, 2021
Energy for the Common Good Celebrates the Launch of the Congressional Fusion Caucus
Congressional Caucus Will Educate and Advocate for Fusion as Part of a Climate Change Solution
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 – Washington, DC – Energy for the Common Good (ECG), a non-profit focused on advancing fusion to the clean energy mix soon enough to make a difference to climate change, celebrated the inaugural meeting of the Congressional Fusion Caucus, founded by Congressman Don Beyer, D-VA 8, last week. At the virtual meeting, which ECG helped coordinate, Members of Congress and their staff received an informative and detailed briefing from experts with a variety of perspectives including academia, environmental advocacy, and the private sector. Interest in the new, bipartisan caucus reflects growing support in Congress for fusion energy as a zero-carbon, non-intermittent energy source and climate change solution.
“Fusion power is a clean energy technology with stunning possibilities, which if fully realized could meet the world’s rapidly expanding demand in a climate-friendly way,” said Congressman Beyer. “I formed the bipartisan Congressional Fusion Caucus to educate Congress about the science of fusion power, and inform what we can do as policymakers to help unlock its incredible potential. The excellent turnout for our first meeting shows that this is an issue which will get the solid engagement it deserves from Congress.”
Panelists for the briefing included Anne White, Professor and Head of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bradley Campbell, President of the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), and Derek Sutherland, Co-Founder and CEO of CTFusion. In her presentation, Professor White described the fundamentals of fusion energy and illustrated how fusion energy research underpins everyday applications like cell phones and computers, and how investments in fusion energy sciences technologies intersect with climate change and the environment, defense, and the economy. Mr. Campbell cautioned that the viability of the technology and its acceptance by the public will require thoughtful attention to how the technology is regulated—and that the regulatory path will need to be transparent and responsive to concerns from the public. In describing the various fusion energy technologies under development, Dr. Sutherland said that private industry is focused on commercializing fusion as soon as possible, and that the new public-private partnerships in the recent authorization law are critical for expediting the commercialization needed to get fusion on the grid as soon as possible in order to have a favorable impact on climate change in time.
“The role of government in fusion energy commercialization—the strategic public investments have established the basis for fusion power and put the US in a strong position to lead on commercialization,” said ECG co-founder Jane Hotchkiss. “In tandem, we must work to ensure the social licensing, acceptance, and success of fusion energy as a partner to renewable energy and the other sources of clean power needed to meet our energy vulnerability in a climate changing world.”
Two recent reports reinforce the importance of the Congressional Fusion Caucus’ work:
- The recent Department of Energy Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) report, “Powering the Future” lays out a strategic plan for how to move fusion forward.
- The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s consensus study report, “Bringing Fusion to the US Grid”, released on February 17th, calls for a US fusion pilot plant in the 2035 to 2040 timeframe.
In addition, on March 4th, leading researchers and key industry stakeholders within the fusion energy sciences community will provide a Congressional briefing on the current state of fusion energy and plasma science research at the annual Fusion Day.
More About ECG
Energy for the Common Good is an independent non-profit positioned to advance fusion to the US clean energy portfolio by educating public opinion and decision makers about the benefits of fusion energy with a focus on environmental and public safety NGO’s. A critical part of the mission is to bring transparency and understanding of fusion’s lifecycle characteristics to a discussion toward accepting this exciting energy technology.
Contact
Jane Hotchkiss
Energy for the Common Good
Phone: (617) 410-4752 Ext. 101 (office)
Email: jane@energycommongood.org