One of the key technological advancements of the 21st century is undoubtedly artificial intelligence, but the real killer app is going to be fusion power. We already know how to make fusion power; it’s been easy for a century. Designs like the Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor have been popular science fair entries for decades. The problem we face today is that the fusion reactors we know how to build consume far more power than they produce. Even the constant barrage of sensational news stories about “fusion ignition” are nowhere near breakeven in terms of power consumption.
We want to build a test reactor which does produce some energy and show how that energy is produced and what kind of infrastructure you need to put that power output into a battery bank. Now keep in mind, the test reactor will consume far more power than it will produce, but that isn’t always going to be true.
Educating people about the potential for this technology and about what the pain points are today is one of the best ways we can help usher in a new era of radically affordable, renewable, sustainable, alternative forms of power from fusion.