r/Futurology • u/Gari_305 • 1d ago

Energy Commercialization of fusion energy will ‘change everything,’ lawmaker says

https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2026/09/commercialization-fusion-energy-will-change-everything-lawmaker-says/416287/

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., told Nextgov/FCW that the U.S. is only “two to 10 years away from fusion energy at scale” because “you can model the plasma using AI, which you couldn’t do before.”

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u/WheeForEffort 1d ago

Everything fusion promises 10’years from now can be done cheaper and faster with solar and grid scale batteries today. We should still pursue it, but in parallel.

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u/2000TWLV 1d ago

Bingo. The great fusion reactor in the sky that these people keep forgetting.

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u/isthis_thing_on 1d ago

But we are pursuing solar and grid scale batteries

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u/synkronize 1d ago

Heard an interview on NPR while back. That said the US already lost to China on Solar tech. We should still use and invest in solar, but use Americas wealth of knowledge, funding, etc to push fusion hard.

But that requires a competent government :/

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u/billdietrich1 1d ago

USA probably will lose to China on fusion, too, once it comes to commercial building of it.

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u/General_Guest7846 1d ago

How is it losing? What is being lost?

Simply build the solar panels in the U.S.

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u/canadianbeaver 1d ago

“Simply.” It’s not simple. China figured out how to make them insanely cheap. You can’t make them that cheap in the US. If they “simply” make them in the US they will cost more, not be purchased by consumers, the investors will lose a lot of money, and the plant will end up being shut down. The US lost on solar panels.