This Vancouver Startup Is Chasing the Dream of Clean, Limitless Energy Forever

This Vancouver Startup Is Chasing the Dream of Clean, Limitless Energy Forever

In the suburbs of Vancouver, a team is working on what they think is humanity’s best chance at clean, unlimited power, something we desperately need. A startup called General Fusion is building a nuclear fusion reactor and, if they succeed, it could mean the end of the fossil fuel era. Instead, we’d get our power from the…

Is alluring but elusive fusion energy possible in our lifetime?

Is alluring but elusive fusion energy possible in our lifetime?

Limitless power with virtually no greenhouse gases or radioactive waste. If that sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. For decades, researchers have looked for ways to control, confine and sustain fusion as an energy source. But there has been a lot of progress on a small scale, building on years of…

Can Small Fusion Energy Start-Ups Conquer the Problems That Killed the Giants?

Can Small Fusion Energy Start-Ups Conquer the Problems That Killed the Giants?

Sitting in the control room of Tri Alpha Energy’s experimental fusion reactor, in front of computer screens labeled “plasma guns” and “shot control,” I feel slightly anxious as we make preparations to fire. This reactor is an early prototype for a power plant that would generate energy in a controlled version of what happens inside…

Go Inside TriAlpha, A Startup Pursuing the Ideal Power Source

Go Inside TriAlpha, A Startup Pursuing the Ideal Power Source

No energy technology is more tantalizing than fusion, but no energy technology has proved more disappointing. So how has a fusion company in Southern California raised nearly half a billion dollars from the likes of Goldman Sachs and Paul Allen? Does it actually see a way to build a reactor that could generate vast amounts…