Guest blog by Jona D. Cordonier-Gehring*
Fusion power fundamentally is the power source of most of the universe. Every star, including the sun, produces light because of the fusion reactions taking place inside it, tiny hydrogen nuclei colliding with each other in a plasma at incredible temperatures and pressures, to make helium, and plenty of energy to sustain the temperatures required for the reaction. The dream of fusion power is to make that a reality on earth, and so to easily provide clean and efficient energy for everyone. Really all that we are doing is getting to speed with the rest of the universe. It also has exciting potential for fulfilling the SDGs, especially SDG7.
SDG 7 is one of the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of targets created by the United Nations in 2015 and agreed by all member states as things to work towards. They are the sequel to the millennium development goals. SDG 7 in particular focuses on energy, aiming for all countries to be able to have easy access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, modern and safe energy sources.
In the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), countries committed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while globally cooperating to become more resilient and adapt to the impacts of climate change, changing the directions of financial flows and development pathways.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), by scaling up renewable energy, countries can sharply reduce energy-related CO2 GHG emissions, greatly helping to achieve their Paris Agreement objectives. IRENA notes that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) quantify the commitment of each Party to the treaty to reduce CO2 and other GHG emissions, and based on new pledges submitted in 2020, supports countries to further implement and enhance their NDCs through accelerated deployment of renewables. To date, 190 Parties have ratified the Paris Agreement and 188 have submitted NDCs to the UNFCCC Secretariat. As IRENA notes: “of these, 170 NDCs (or 90% of the total) mentioned renewables, while 134 (or 71%) included quantified renewable energy targets. While all 134 of those NDCs included renewable energy targets for electricity generation, only 56 included targets for direct heat and for transport, even though decarbonisation is key to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. If all renewable power targets included in NDCs were implemented, an additional 1 041 gigawatts (GW) of renewables would be added by 2030, most of which (567 GW) is in Asia. Global installed capacity for renewable power generation would consequently grow almost 42%, from 2 523 GW in 2019 to an estimated 3 564 GW in 2030.” Renewable energy, especially fusion power, offer a serious opportunity to deliver on the Paris Agreement.
Once fusion power is realised, it has a few key advantages. Similar to traditional fossil fuels, it can be built anywhere, and the fuel source most reactors are using is a few grams of hydrogen, which can be extracted from water, which means every country can use it inexpensively once built. Many of the current experimental reactors are purposely overcomplicated so that the plasmas can be measured with greater precision. This means power generating reactors won’t need so much experimental set-up.
Fusion can also function as a base load, an important piece of our current energy infrastructure, as unlike solar or wind power, fusion is not dependant on external conditions, and can run consistently throughout the day.
Another advantage of the fuel source being water is how abundant it is. 340ml of water, when used in a fusion reactor produces the same energy as burning an entire barrel of oil. This effectively means that the fuel will last as long as it needs to last.
Unlike other baseload options, mainly being traditional nuclear power and fossil fuels, fusion power produces no carbon dioxide, and so it doesn’t contribute to climate change, and has less radiation than a coal power station or a traditional nuclear power plant. The largest fusion reactor current being constructed ITER will only use a few grams of fuel in its 840 cubic meter area. So, it is much safer, as well as sustainable.
However, for all the amazing advantages fusion power could bring, it also has its challenges, especially because it is still under development.
Although some private companies have goals of producing their first reactors in only a few years time, most experts don’t expect fusion power to arrive for another decade or 2 at least. But this is much less of an issue than it might seem initially. Fusion power is obviously going to be the future of energy, so especially when we take a youth perspective, it becomes clear why we want this. We have to think not only about the next 5 years, but also what will happen after that. Fusion power is an investment in our future, and the future of the entire human race.
The second large challenge is the skills required. To build large scale reactors, you still have to keep incredible precision, down to fractions of a millimetre. There are very few industrial workshops in the world right now that have the capabilities to make something like that. This is another part that ITER is working on. Because its collaboration is mostly based around sharing the manufacturing of components, this allows skills to be developed in all of its partner countries.
Even with those challenges, fusion power still has plenty of opportunities, especially for youth, and ways for people to get involved. One of those is in spin off technologies. Because fusion requires an entirely new level of manufacturing precision, a bunch of new possibilities will be created as a result, just like with any other large scale scientific endeavour. For example, the advances in the rate of manufacturing superconducting materials could make MRI scanners and other medical devices cheaper.
Youth can also advocate for changes to laws and policies, adapting our social, economic and political systems themselves to promote renewable energy, including fusion power. Thanks to recent developments, there have been many advances in fusion law and policy. In particular, the UK government has created a framework for funding private fusion ventures, and has also created regulation for fusion power, allowing it to not be dealt with in the same was as fission. Japan has also created Plans that allow not only the R&D of Tokamaks, but also other fusion systems, such as Heliacal and Laser based approaches.
Another area youth can really help is raising awareness. Fusion power is slowly gaining attention, but by spreading the word, and organising events, as well as helping schools introduce it into curriculums globally, it can really make a difference. In particular, fusion power still has some sceptics because of its association with old nuclear power, despite them being very different technologies. Energy for the Common Good (ECG), which I serve as a Youth Advisor, is working to advance the acceptance of fusion energy as an integral part of a clean energy economy, basically building replacement markets for fossil fuel in response to an advancing climate change timeline. As ECG notes, the “persistent gap between renewable energy and fossil generation allows its continued dominance over the world’s expanding energy needs. Fusion’s ability to replace fossil demands that we launch a coordinated campaign to prepare its future market.” ECG has launched a targeted “hearts and minds” campaign to develop a social and economic engagement strategy that will lay the proper groundwork for the future of fusion energy, and many young people are joining the effort, worldwide.
Even with what we have so far, there is also still a ton of research that needs to be done for fusion to function. This is another fantastic opportunity, as people with the knowledge and skills to understand the physics and ideas behind fusion are needed more and more, as well as people with the engineering and manufacturing skills to assemble the pieces.
* Jona is a climate-striker and president of the Global Youth Council on Science, Law and Sustainability, senior editor of Harmony online journal, and founding deputy-chair of the Cambridge Schools Eco-Council. He is also an award-winning maths and physics student, having completed the Perimeter Institute ISSYP, and serves as a Youth Advisor on the Advisory Board of Energy for a Common Good (ECG), in partnership with ITER. In the summer of 2022, he completed an internship at ITER in Aix-en-Provence, and he especially seeks to thank Mr Coblentz, Mrs Griffith and Dr Haupt from ITER, Mrs Hotchkiss from ECG, and Mr Douglas from his school, for their advice and encouragement.