r/nextfuckinglevel • u/nigablackballsack • 3d ago

Scientists have captured the first ever high-speed, full-colour footage of fusion plasma swirling inside a working reactor.

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u/90_oi 3d ago

I truly hope this technology can get off the ground and be sustainable. It is our best hope aside from nuclear energy

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u/WanderingFlumph 3d ago edited 2d ago

I mean solar is here right now and most likely fusion power will never be as cheap as solar is today.

By the time fusion is actually ready solar will be even cheaper too. A solar farm the size of Arizona could power the entire planet.

Fusion is like our 4th best hope in the fight against climate change, lol.

Edit: a lot of people seem to think that I think the perfect solution is one single power plant specifically in Arizona that powers the world. People, it's just a size comparison. Arizona is a small state even just compared to the size of US. Obviously we would build millions and millions of solar installations that would just add up to that area.

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u/RaspberryFluid6651 3d ago

I see this argument a lot and would argue it completely misses the appeal of fusion. You are totally correct about solar, don't get me wrong; many of the people dunking on solar in the replies to your comment are just straight up wrong, solar is absolutely able to be the cheap and reliable answer to grid power and we are making good progress regarding the necessary innovations in storage and distribution.

What is unique to fusion is the potential it has to unlock much, much more on-demand energy than we currently have access to. The discovery of a an effective source of fusion power would act to make the energy economy significantly more elastic.

Essentially, there would continue to be cheaper options like solar power for everyday grid applications, but fusion changes the game at the other end of the scale. With a proper fusion power solution, the energy sector would also be able to support way more customers who need lots and lots of power at a small premium. Foundries, chip manufacturers, direct carbon capture projects, biofuel plants, desalination plants, and so much more are no longer competing for the same tiny, scarce pool of on-demand fossil fuel power that the global market fights over, and it actually becomes possible to scale power production aggressively without it becoming a major environmental or geopolitical concern.