{"id":74401,"date":"2022-06-18T05:00:48","date_gmt":"2022-06-18T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=74401"},"modified":"2022-06-17T18:08:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T22:08:45","slug":"fusion-is-30-years-away-and-always-will-be-how-much-progress-have-we-made-toward-practical-fusion-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2022\/06\/18\/fusion-is-30-years-away-and-always-will-be-how-much-progress-have-we-made-toward-practical-fusion-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"“Fusion is 30 years away and always will be” … how much progress have we made toward practical fusion energy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the readers of Scott Alexander’s Astral Codex Ten<\/em><\/a> has contributed a review of The Future of Fusion Energy<\/em> by Jason Parisi and Justin Ball. This is one of perhaps a dozen or so anonymous reviews that Scott publishes every year with the readers voting for the best review and the names of the contributors withheld until after the voting is finished:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fusion is the power which lights the stars. It is the source of all elements heavier than hydrogen in the universe. Wouldn’t it be great if we could use and control this power here on Earth?<\/p>\n

I predict that we will get fusion before 2035 (80%) or 2040 (90%). I am a professional plasma physicist, a fusioneer if you will, so I probably know more about this subject than you, but am likely to overemphasize its importance.<\/p>\n

The Future of Fusion Energy<\/em> is the best introduction to fusion that I know. I can confirm that the information it contains is common knowledge among plasma physicists. My parents, who are not physicists, can confirm that it is accessible and interesting to read.<\/p>\n

Things are changing fast in fusion right now, and The Future of Fusion Energy<\/em> is already out of date in some important ways. I will summarize our quest for fusion as it is portrayed in the book, describe what has happened in the field since 2018, and make some predictions about where we go from here. The predictions are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Parisi or Ball.<\/p>\n

 
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Why Don’t We Have Fusion Already?<\/h3>\n

There is an old joke:<\/p>\n