Scientists: Fusion Power Could Be on the Grid in 1

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Scientists: Fusion Power Could Be on the Grid in 15 Years

A new superconducting material and ridiciously powerful magnets are potentially the key to a power revolution.

By Eric Limer
Mar 9, 2018


Ken Filar/MIT

While fusion energy is simple in theory, it's ridiculously difficult in practice. Not only is it challenging to maintain the precise magnetic field required to contain plasma heated to millions of degrees, you also need to protect the inside of the reactor from destructive bubbles of helium, all while ensuring that the reaction can be sustained and actually generate more energy than it needs.

MIT and CFS are hoping to facilitate a leap forward on several of these problems at once with a new superconducting material that will help make more efficient magnets to control the plasma.

The superconductor in question is a steel ribbon, coated with yttrium-barium-copper oxide, or YBCO. These superconductors can operate at particularly high temperatures of around -388 degrees Fahrenheit, as opposed to most superconductors which must be kept at temperatures closer to absolute zero in order to function.

This allows for the creation of smaller, higher-powered, and more efficient magnets which could make all the difference in developing a reactor with net-positive energy generation.

The tech will be initially tested in an experiment called 'Sparc,' detailed in a rendering above. Instead of taking the project directly to its natural conclusion of generating electricity, Sparc will stop one step short and simply generate heat.

But if successful, it will have done something more important than turn on some light bulbs. It will illustrate we've found a way use fusion as a power source.

Bob Mumgaard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, claims this success will lead to imminent fusion power, and not a moment to soon. “The aspiration is to have a working power plant in time to combat climate change," he tells The Guardian. "We think we have the science, speed and scale to put carbon-free fusion power on the grid in 15 years.”

The timeline might be a bit optimistic, as one scientist on a different fusion project told The Guardian. But if the test succeeds, we'll most certainly be at least one step closer to a fusion future.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/ener...-15-years/

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