The Department of Energy announced $134 million in funding Wednesday to advance fusion energy, a technology that is garnering record amounts of cash from the private sector.
The bulk of the funding, or $128 million, is for seven teams tied to the national labs focused on building an “innovation ecosystem” to help bridge the gap between research and commercialization. The department also is supporting 20 projects working on technical advances in fusion such as development of lasers and magnets.
“Fusion power holds the promise of limitless, reliable, American-made energy,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. DOE’s programs “ensure our innovators have the tools, talent and partnerships to make it a reality,” he said.
Fusion, which involves the same process that powers the sun and the stars, theoretically could power the world with carbon-free energy, but scientists have never demonstrated at scale that it can generate more energy than is required to power a reaction. It also faces technical challenges such as building equipment that can withstand pelting from radioactive neutrons and generating enough hydrogen isotopes for fuel.
