Fusion Energy At Scale: Listed By White House as One of Five Priorities Towards Net-Zero

In the lead-up to the UN Climate negotiations at COP27 in Egypt, the Biden Administration announced a “Game Changers Initiative” to accelerate the innovation for meeting the net-zero by 2050 goal. Fusion Energy at Scale was listed as one of the “Five Priorities” as they launch the “Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative.” You can read the full White House report on “U.S. Innovation to Meet 2050 Climate Goals: Assessing Initial R&D Opportunities”.

The key part of this is the creation of an interagency working group that will identify, prioritize, and accelerate innovation in game-changing net-zero technologies. The working group identified 37 net-zero R&D opportunities, and then prioritized five areas to launch the Net Zero Game Changers Initiative. These areas are: Efficient Building Heating and Cooling, Net-Zero Aviation, Net-Zero Power Grid and Electrification, Fusion Energy at Scale, and Industrial Products and Fuels for a Net-Zero, Circular Economy.

The White House report identified “emerging technologies that hold a promise to change the game on a path to a net-zero economy by 2050,” listing fusion energy as one key technology. It highlights the potential of fusion energy to be a globally scalable, on-demand, and sustainable zero-carbon source of energy. The report also notes that the private sector’s increasing investment coupled with science and technology advancements necessitates an updated U.S. strategy for fusion acceleration. This aligns well with the recent White House Summit on Developing a Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy.

“Within the past decade, significant market pull (represented by over $5 billion of cumulative private investments) and technical readiness of the science and enabling technologies warrants a new U.S. strategy for fusion energy R&D.”

“These solutions are all key areas where transformative progress can help the United States reach its 2050 climate goal and support global decarbonization.”

Read the report in full below, or here.

November 22nd, 2022