Fusion energy is an important technology in achieving the goal of “net zero” emissions by 2050. It’s a clean energy source with fuels available everywhere, reducing geopolitical dependencies – but it’s challenging to achieve the conditions necessary for fusion on Earth.
This DLD24 session, moderated by Ann-Kristin Achleitner (Technical University Munich), brings together Heike Freund (Marvel Fusion), Antonia Schmalz (SPRIND), Francesco Sciortino (Proxima Fusion) and Markus Blume, the Bavarian State Minister of Science & the Arts.
Fusion reactors, Antonia Schmalz, are in some ways the opposite of traditional nuclear power plants – they generate energy by combining light nuclei into heavier ones to release energy.
“We know that it’s working because that’s what’s happening in the sun all the time”, she explains. But “nuclei don’t want to fuse, so you need really, really special conditions to get them to fuse on Earth.” One of the challenges is ”to get more energy out than you put into generating these special conditions”.
Watch the video to find out which solutions scientists are coming up with to overcome these challenges; why regulation is important in driving progress; and how Germany hopes to become a worldwide leader in fusion energy.
