US to Announce Global Nuclear Fusion Strategy at COP28

(CTN News) – According to two persons familiar with the matter, U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry is expected to declare on Monday that the United States will present the first global plan to commercialize nuclear fusion power during the forthcoming United Nations climate summit in Dubai.

Because fusion does not generate permanent radioactive waste, it may offer significant benefits over the current nuclear fission reactors that break atoms. Additionally, it has the potential to offer a low-cost, carbon-free power source if implemented properly.

While touring Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a fusion startup located near Boston, the former secretary of state will announce and outline a strategy that anticipates increased collaboration with other nations seeking to accelerate commercialization. A collaboration agreement on fusion was signed on November 8th by the United States and the United Kingdom.

We can mimic the sun’s and stars’ fusion process—creating electricity by smashing two lighter atoms into a denser one—on Earth by applying heat and pressure using magnets or lasers. This process releases enormous amounts of energy.

Using laser beams, scientists at a California national lab replicated an ignition breakthrough in fusion in August. This breakthrough allowed the amount of energy originating from the fusion process to briefly surpass that focussed on the target.

Kerry will accompany Claudio Descalzi, CEO of the Italian energy firm Eni (ENI.MI), on a tour of the Commonwealth. Descalzi previously supported legislation that would have funded fusion research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while Kerry was a U.S. senator over a decade ago. Among Eni’s four fusion research collaborations in the US and Italy is one with the Commonwealth.

“I will have much more to say on the United States’ vision for international partnerships for an inclusive fusion energy future at COP28,” Kerry stated in a press release.

“Fusion is going from being an experiment to becoming “an emergent climate answer” thanks to decades of government funding, he continued.

However, there remain obstacles to commercially manufacturing electricity using fusion. According to some estimates, the amount of energy produced by the fusion experiment conducted last year at the US National Ignition Facility was barely around 0.5% of the total energy used to activate the lasers.

The number of continuous ignition events per minute required to provide electricity to power households and industry is much more than what scientists have achieved thus far.

Building new power plant fleets to supplement or replace older energy infrastructure isn’t without its share of challenges, including regulations, building, and site selection.

Some argue that fusion technology won’t be useful shortly for combating climate change since it will be too costly and time-consuming to develop.

According to an insider, the fusion approach will serve as a blueprint for the worldwide technology rollout, which might garner backing from foreign allies.

A reliable source has informed us that the upcoming COP28 meeting from November 30 to December 12 will “be the starting gun for international cooperation” regarding nuclear fusion. Kerry is expected to promote this technology as a “solution, not a science experiment” about climate change.

Many sectors of the clean energy industry have seen investment slowdowns this year as a result of inflation and economic uncertainty, even as scientists have emphasized the critical need of an energy transition in the fight against climate change.

There was a decrease from $2.83 billion in new investment in 2022 to about $1.4 billion in 2023, with a total of approximately $6.21 billion in primarily private capital, according to the Fusion Industry Association (FIA).

The FIA reports that the number of companies receiving investments increased from 33 to 43 across 12 nations. Among these companies is Commonwealth, which is one of approximately 25 in the United States. The United Kingdom, China, Japan, and Australia are among the other countries actively exploring fusion.

In one of the two primary forms of fusion, energy is focused onto a gold pellet that contains hydrogen using lasers.

The alternative, which Commonwealth and numerous other organizations are concentrating on, utilizes strong magnets to contain plasma, which is gaseous hydrogen heated to approximately 55 million degrees Celsius (100 million Fahrenheit), until atomic fusion occurs.