Last week delivered another milestone in the move toward fusion energy, as environmental and policy groups began to focus on not only the potential of fusion, but on creating the framework for delivering the message to their constituencies. Organized by the Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) and the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), in partnership with Energy for the Common Good (ECG), a group of advocates, business leaders, environmental justice colleagues, the press, and government officials met via zoom to learn about the status of, obstacles to, and above all, the importance of fusion energy here in Massachusetts and its promise regionally, nationally, and globally.
The event, The Promise of Fusion Energy & the Challenges Ahead, was two years in the making and is at the heart of ECG’s mission to engage NGOs, industry, government, scientists, and all critical constituencies in building awareness and support for fusion energy in preparation for the first commercial fusion devices. The event heralded the growing awareness and interest from the environmental community in fusion energy as a source of carbon-free energy. Reinforced throughout the discussion was the point that fusion will be a critical partner to existing renewables and non-fossil energy in our collective effort to fully decarbonize our energy.
Existing renewable energy and storage technologies will play a key role in decarbonizing our economy. However, as Brad Campbell, President of CLF noted, “even bullish scenarios for deployment of renewable energy suggest it is unlikely to bring the globe to net zero emissions by mid-century.” We need more solutions for creating carbon-free energy at scale, and we need to “continue the research and investments needed to expand the climate solutions set.”
The event was a great first for fusion, showcasing Massachusetts as one of a handful of global hubs for fusion R&D. Dennis Whyte, Director of the Plasma Science Fusion Center (PSFC) at MIT ran through basics of creating fusion power, and the reasons why fusion is fundamentally an exciting new energy source, noting that it’s “is no longer just a curiosity-driven science project.” He pointed to the fact that fusion does work; we just need to figure out how to get more energy out than we put in—how to get to net energy. At that point, fusion will be a highly—and positively—disruptive energy source. It’s adaptable, it’s scalable, and it’s carbon free.
MIT has incubated and launched a key part of the current fusion ecosystem with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) as a leading spinoff focused on fusion energy. CFS is one of almost 30 private fusion startups and CFS’ approach to fusion—the tokamak—is one of several technologically different approaches closing in on net fusion energy. Bob Mumgaard, CEO of CFS, used the wedge game to illustrate how we have to balance two competing needs—the need to decarbonize the world and the need for energy. In this use of the wedge concept a wedge for zero carbon energy will be big and come from as many technologies as possible; and fusion will play a pivotal role. Fusion is unique because every type of fusion device—from tokamak to stellarator to Z-Pinch—aims to create conditions that fuel the stars; recreating fusion reactions that we see every day in our sun. The heat that fusion produces here on earth will provide more than just electricity; it can be deployed for industrial energy uses, to make liquid fuels, hydrogen fuels, even district heating and cooling.
Questions from the audience—ranging from waste, heat, and efficiency, to baseload and ramping, to safety and regulation, to timing, siting, size, and cost—showed the breadth of interest from the meeting participants. Jane Hotchkiss, President of ECG, reminded participants that “one of the beautiful parts about fusion is that there are going to be a number of different approaches that will accomplish different sizes and different configurations.” Fusion technologies, when commercially available, will make fossil replacement fully possible.
Congresswoman Lori Trahan spoke to the excitement and growing focus on fusion in Congress, noting that “recent breakthroughs in fusion energy research have indicated that commercialized use of this virtually unlimited energy source is on the cusp of becoming a reality.” She shared some of the efforts underway in Congress, with the support of the Congressional Fusion Caucus, to expand fusion R&D across our nation’s labs and universities and to facilitate greater private investment in the technology. She urged the audience to work with the organizers of the teach-in and their own contacts in the Senate to get this investment across the finish line.
As with any new technology, fusion energy must overcome barriers to establish its viability beyond the theoretical promise it holds. It’s not just about technological viability—there are very real “soft” hurdles to overcome in getting a new technology to the grid and ensuring commercial viability, including social acceptance. ECG is mapping a route for fusion by building trust and openness to process with those who are most likely to impact its commercial viability and economics. We do this by educating, developing tools, modeling engagement, and encouraging open inclusion and transparency.
This ECG, CLF, and ELM teach-in was a milestone for fusion; and it was the first step to bringing aboard environmental advocates, business groups, and policymakers to learn about the current state of fusion, the technologies, the opportunities, the gaps, and the risks, because, as Elizabeth Turnbull Henry, President of ELM said, “in the years ahead, we are going together to need to be more equipped to comment on federal funding and regulatory considerations; and to look at the horizon for potential implications for issues like siting, transmission, environmental justice in our regional innovation economy and our shared grid.”
The event could not have been more timely, coming on the heels of:
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- Fusion’s first appearance—with ECG playing a major role—on the official program at COP26,
- Just-announced private investments: Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ $1.8b and Helion’s $2.2b
- Technology milestones and announcements: Fusion Net Energy planned for ’23 (ZAP), ’24 (Helion), ’25 (CFS)
- Media: Including recent articles/videos from Nature, the New York Times, and New Yorker, Time Magazine, and Al Jazeera.
With ECG’s leadership, CLF and ELM have brought fusion to the climate and green/clean energy space as environmental organizations; and this event was a great beginning towards expanding awareness and building fusion advocacy among new constituencies. With this as a start, we will continue and expand the discussion!