New York The success of American researchers in nuclear fusion is not just celebrated as a breakthrough in science. The situation has also changed for private companies working with technology. “Now we are seen in a completely different light: investor interest is increasing”, reports Michl Binderbauer, head of TAE Technologies.
The company based near Los Angeles conducts private research into nuclear fusion and has well-known sponsors such as Google and Chevron. According to the latest news, the Austrian physicist has already made several calls to other potential investors.
On Tuesday, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, along with the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California, announced that researchers have managed to extract more energy from the fusion of atomic nuclei than was used. . “Simply put, this is one of the most impressive scientific achievements of the 21st century,” said Granholm.
Nuclear fusion is one step closer to reality
In fact, scientists have been researching nuclear fusion for decades. Atoms fuse at temperatures of 100 million degrees or more, similar to what happens in the sun. Enormous energy is released in the process.
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However, because extremely high temperatures are required, researchers have always had to put in more energy than they could generate through actual fusion. Now the breakthrough appears to have been achieved, at least in the laboratory. American scientists used 200 lasers to extremely heat the gas of isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium.
>> Read here: The CDU is demanding more research funding for nuclear fusion
Experts estimate that nuclear fusion power plants, which provide humanity with electricity, are still a long way off. But the possibility that these reactors, which leave behind significantly less and, above all, shorter-lived radioactivity than nuclear fission, will eventually become a reality, is one step closer.
“This is absolutely a technical breakthrough. Net power generation is complete,” says TAE head Binderbauer. This pleases the entire research community. “Also for scientists, this is an important psychological moment that shows that it is possible,” he says.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was among the early investors in TAE Technologies
With 250 employees, TAE is one of the largest private companies specializing in nuclear fusion. In addition to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018, investors in the company, founded in 1998, also include oil giant Chevron, Google parent Alphabet, sovereign wealth funds and large venture capitalists.
In total, they invested US$ 1.2 billion. According to Binderbauer, TAE was valued at five billion dollars in the latest funding round.
Michael Binderbauer
The Austrian physicist researches nuclear fusion with his company TAE Technologies.
(Photo: PR/TAE)
Unlike the NIF researchers who pioneered laser fusion, TAE relies on magnets that create a plasma and heat the particles inside. “The magnetic solution is probably more commercially viable,” even admits Kim Budil, director of the Livermore lab. In the case of the lasers used by the company’s own researchers, on the other hand, this will take “decades”.
Binderbauer is optimistic: “We hope that by 2025 we will have a machine capable of generating more energy than is coming in.” By the end of the decade there will be reactors and by the early 2030s commercial power plants.
German companies are also researching in this area
However, the most recent experiment in California has also been criticized. Among other things, experts complain that much more energy was used to operate the laser than in real nuclear fusion. Binderbauer accepts the argument.
“But you also have to consider that NIF lasers are among the most inefficient that exist today,” he says of the 20-plus-year-old devices. “If they built the machine today, it would be much more efficient,” he is convinced.
In addition to TAE, other companies are also researching nuclear fusion. This includes the MIT spin-off Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), as well as Firstlight Fusion, General Fusion, Helion Energy and the German companies Marvel Fusion of Munich and Focused Energy of Darmstadt.
The listed companies also invested in the technology. Among other things, the Italian oil company Eni has invested $50 million in CFS and has a seat on the supervisory board.
US President Joe Biden announced the goal of achieving commercial nuclear fusion by 2030. According to Energy Minister Granholm, the private sector invested three billion dollars in these projects last year.
More billions in investments are needed
But much more will be needed for commercial advancement. Morgan Stanley analyst Edward Stanley calculates in a study that the fast food delivery sector alone has received more than ten times the investment that has been made in nuclear fusion since 2020.
If the technology really succeeds, it will be “the biggest shift in energy consumption and production since the Industrial Revolution,” writes Stanley. However, he does not expect this to happen in the short or medium term – not least because many billions more would be needed.
Historic Advance in Energy Harvesting
TAE boss Binderbauer knows it still takes a lot of time and money and maybe one investor or another gets impatient. So, meanwhile, he tries to market his ventures for other purposes. For example, TAE has invested in a particle accelerator for nuclear fusion and is already successfully testing it to treat tumors.
Developments for fast energy storage could also be used in electric cars, for example. In this area, TAE only announced a cooperation with automotive supplier Marelli on Thursday. “Perhaps we could list these individual areas separately,” says Binderbauer.
However, the physicist is not very concerned about finance. “Our business model is much more plausible today than it was a few days ago,” he says.
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