Key Points
In 2024, fusion technology will finally make the transition from basic research to commercial application..
These cutting-edge facilities are smaller than fusion power plants..
This experiment used high-power lasers to deposit energy in a small fuel targeta millimeter-sized capsule containing frozen deuterium and tritiumcreating the conditions for fusion to occur..
The initiatives are bearing fruit: Several fusion companies worldwide, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helion Energy, and General Fusion have announced plans to begin constructing facilities in 2024 to demonstrate their technological approach..
In August 2023, Marvel Fusion (a fusion energy firm I cofounded) announced a partnership with Colorado State University worth $150 million, the largest public-private partnership to date, with the aim of building the only laser facility tailored to a commercial laser-based fusion technology and the most powerful short-pulse laser system in the world..
