r/Futurology • u/Economy-Title4694 • 5d ago

Energy Fusion Energy Breakthroughs: Are We Close to Unlimited Clean Power?

For decades, nuclear fusion, the same process that powers the Sun, has been seen as the holy grail of clean energy. Recent breakthroughs claim we’re closer than ever, but is fusion finally ready to power the world?

With companies like ITER, Commonwealth Fusion, and Helion Energy racing to commercialize fusion, could we see fusion power in our lifetime, or is it always "30 years away"? What do you think?

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u/2000TWLV 5d ago

We already have unlimited clean power. The sun dumps more of it all over the place every day than we could possibly know what to do with. All we need to harvest it is some solar panels and batteries.

But fusion would be nice too.

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u/Cawdor 5d ago

Solar power isn’t gonna help deep space exploration

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u/CV514 4d ago

Dyson Sphere or something like that will surely help with deep space exploration.

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u/Crizznik 4d ago

We're closer to FTL and colonizing other stars than we are to building a Dyson Sphere. Largely because there isn't enough matter in the entire solar system to build one. Dyson Swarm would be more likely, but even that is well beyond even our theoretical capabilities right now. Fusion is our best bet for clean, renewable energy. I mean, fission is better right now, even with the risks, but try telling that to NIMBYs.