“I started in renewables 25 years ago, when we were being told that photovoltaics was a pipe dream, similar to what the conversation is today about fusion,” said Jane Hotchkiss, president of Energy Common Good, a Concord-based advocacy group for fusion energy. “It’s not just about technological viability; there are very real ‘soft’ hurdles to overcome getting a new technology to the grid.”
By David Abel, Globe Staff
December 22, 2021
DEVENS — It’s been compared to everything from a holy grail to fool’s gold: the ultimate solution to clean, readily available energy or an expensive delusion diverting scarce money and brainpower from the urgent needs of rapidly addressing climate change.
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For decades, scientists have been trying to harness the energy that powers stars, a complex, atomic-level process known as nuclear fusion, which requires heating a plasma fuel to more than 100 million degrees Celsius and finding a way to contain and sustain it. In theory, fusion could yield inexpensive and unlimited zero-emissions electricity, without producing any significant radioactive waste, as fission does in traditional nuclear power plants.