Nuclear fusion: a future energy source?
Berlin, 28 November 2024
Over the past few years, there has been a surge of interest in nuclear fusion within the energy transition debate due to its potential as a climate-friendly energy source. What role might it play in a future net-zero electricity system? How soon could nuclear fusion start supplying energy? And how does the technology actually work? The latest “In a Nutshell!” publication from the Academies’ Project ESYS explains the basics.
In nuclear fusion, the atomic nuclei of light elements merge to form a new chemical element in a reaction that also releases energy. The aim of nuclear fusion research is to harness this process, which occurs continuously in the Sun, in order to produce electricity here on Earth. If successfully implemented, fusion technology could, in the long run, be integrated into the future energy system, providing a climate-friendly, continuously available energy source.
“Is Nuclear Fusion an Energy Source of the Future?” is the latest publication in the “In a Nutshell!” series of the Academies’ Project “Energy Systems of the Future” (ESYS), a joint initiative of acatech, Leopoldina and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities. It looks at the fundamental physical principles of nuclear fusion, its history, the different power plant concepts, potential fuels, and its possible future use.
The publication also explains how nuclear fusion differs from nuclear fission in terms of both the physical processes involved and the associated risks. A fusion power plant would only produce low-level to medium-level radioactive waste that would need to be stored for around 100 years until it decayed. There is also no danger of an uncontrolled chain reaction with nuclear fusion.
Supplementing renewable energy
In the past few months and years, various research institutions around the world have reported scientific advances in nuclear fusion, while the number of start-ups in this field is also growing. As a result, nuclear fusion research has made good progress in recent times. However, there is still a long way to go before a fully operational power plant can be built.
Many experts estimate that it will be at least 20 to 25 years before the first prototype or commercial fusion power plant is built. If this is true, the technology will be unable to make a meaningful contribution to meeting the 2045 climate targets in Germany or the 2050 targets in Europe. It is thus vital that efforts to transition to a net-zero energy system should maintain a strong focus on renewable energy. Nonetheless, nuclear fusion could help to meet the rising demand for electricity in the second half of the century.
