The Future Of Clean, Limitless Energy

Key takeaways

• On December 5, U.S. scientists at the National Ignition Facility in California generated more energy from a nuclear fusion reaction than they put in
• The experimental result is a massive nuclear energy breakthrough in a century-long quest to unlock the power of the sun on earth
• With more research and financial investment, researchers believe we’re within four decades of producing 100% clean, limitless energy

“Monday, December 5, 2022 was an important day in science.”

This understatement was delivered by Jill Hruby, undersecretary for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), at a December 13 press conference.

The subject: A nuclear energy breakthrough at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California.

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Dr. Arata Prabhakar heralded the achievement as a “scientific milestone” and an “engineering marvel beyond belief.”

“This duality of advancing the research, building the complex engineering systems, both sides learning from each other, this is how we do really big, hard things, and this is just a beautiful example,” she added.

The net energy gain from the fusion reaction is the first in human history. While more research (a lot more research) is needed to make the technology replicable, scalable and more efficient, it’s an essential step on the path to clean energy.

And for investors, that represents decades of opportunities ripe for the plucking.

What is nuclear fusion?

Nuclear fusion involves combining atoms into a single, larger atom. The process generates enormous amounts of energy, and is the core reaction that drives our sun.

Nuclear fusion differs from nuclear fission, the process used in nuclear power plants. Fission splits atoms, rather than combines them, generating dangerous radioactive waste in the process.

By contrast, nuclear fusion is far more efficient, generates almost no waste, and runs off hydrogen atoms readily available in seawater, rather than radioactive materials buried in the ground. That makes it the ideal candidate for powering everything from houses to manufacturing plants…if it could be scaled.

Since fusion was discovered a century ago, scientists have raced to unlock and replicate the mechanics in a lab. But running a fusion reaction that requires less energy in than it puts out, a process called ignition, has eluded scientists…

Until now.

The nuclear energy breakthrough in a nutshell

December’s nuclear energy breakthrough occurred at the National Ignition Facility, which uses a process called “thermonuclear inertial fusion.”

Essentially, the $3.5 billion laser complex shoots 192 lasers at a tiny capsule. The capsule contains two hydrogen isotopes that, when bombarded with energy, vaporize almost immediately. The fusion process releases enormous amounts of energy.

In the past, the energy input from the lasers far exceeded the energy output from the fusion reaction. But on December 5, researchers tried something new.

The shell around the capsule they used was thicker than in past experiments, meaning that small flaws effect the experiment less. This simple – and incredibly replicable – change allowed something incredible to happen.

Dr. Marvin Adams, NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs, described the process at Tuesday’s press conference. He noted that the process began with a spherical cylinder containing a small capsule, “about half the diameter of a BB.”

“192 laser beams entered from the two ends of the cylinder,” he said, “and struck the inner wall…. X-rays from the wall impinged on the spherical capsule. Fusion fuel in the capsule got squeezed, fusion reactions started. This had all happened before, 100 times before. But last week for the first time, they designed this experiment so that the fusion fuel stayed hot enough, dense enough and round enough for long enough that it ignited. And it produced more energies than the lasers had deposited. About 2 megajoules in, about 3 megajoules out. A gain of 1.5.”

The importance of this breakthrough

A gain of 1.5 sounds small, and in energy terms, it is. But it’s not the size of the reaction that matters – it’s that it happened at all.

December 5’s nuclear fusion breakthrough was the culmination of a century of research, funding dollars and failures. Though there are many steps between today and commercial viability, without this step, fusion as an energy source was little more than a science fiction gimmick. Today, it’s a reality.

And the long-term potential of a fusion-heavy future is simply staggering. Unlike coal and fossil fuels, fusion reactions generate no CO2 emissions or other byproducts. And since it runs on hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, it’s virtually limitless in its production potential.

With that much energy, we won’t just reduce our emissions footprint – we could reverse it.

Unlimited power would make it possible to advance all kinds of technologies faster, cheaper and cleaner, from climate change solutions to better laptops.

Fusion energy could relieve energy blackouts, power water treatment plants, and help us discover better ways to recycle and dispose of trash.

New technologies could pull CO2 from the atmosphere at scale, mitigating climate change and reducing pollution-induced human casualties.

Battery technology could advance, allowing for mass adoption of clean energy production and storage for homes, vehicles and more.

On a grand, long-term scale, fusion energy could eliminate humanity’s emissions, allowing for a cleaner, greener, healthier planet – not to mention, elevated living for all of humanity.

If that sounds a bit idealistic, you’re not wrong. But then again, the prospect of fusion energy was idealistic 50 years ago. This month, scientists proved fusion is possible. Why can’t the other long-term benefits come true, too?

What does this mean for investors?

But before a fusion future becomes reality, the energy space requires more research and innovation – lots of it.

Time and technology are key

The press conference revealed that the laser array that powered the nuclear energy breakthrough is based off 40-year-old technology. Not only are modern lasers more powerful, they’re also more efficient – meaning that greater fusion energy gains lie just around the corner.

LLNL Director Dr. Kim Budil was careful to remind journalists and investors that fusion isn’t four weeks or even four years away. The process will take time.

“There are very significant hurdles, not just in the science, but in the technology,” she said. “This is one ignited capsule one time, and to realize commercial fusion energy, you have to do many things. You have to be able to produce many, many fusion ignition events per minute, and you have to have a robust system of drivers to enable that.”

However, she’s also optimistic than a fusion-powered future is within grasp.

“[It’s] probably not five decades [away], which is what we used to say,” she added. “I think it’s moving into the foreground. With a few decades of research and investment…could put us in a position to build power plants.”

Financial investments can drive faster commercialization

The LLNL relied largely on public grants and funding to make the nuclear energy breakthrough a reality. But U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm believes that both private and public research is required to make fusion happen.

“We know that there has been a huge interest among the private funding community…and we encourage that,” she said at Tuesday’s press conference. “This shows that it can be done, which has always been a question: can you get there?”

“That threshold being crossed allows [scientists] to start working on better lasers, more efficient lasers, on better containment capsules, etc., [These are] the things that are necessary to allow it to be modularized and taken to commercial scale.”

Fortunately, the private sector is hopping onboard. Kim Budil noted that many private companies are exploring inertial fusion production alongside its cousin, magnetic fusion. (Magnetic fusion uses a tokamak, a donut-shaped device that uses strong magnets to confine plasma in a particular shape.)

Budil believes that, between magnetic fusion being “a little bit in front” and this month’s ignition breakthrough, having our current technological “portfolio of approaches is really a great place to be.”

She added, “These communities will feed off each other, we’ll learn, we’ll continue to advance the field, and many technologies will grow out of both fields in addition to a path to a fusion power plant.”

Capitalizing on the nuclear fusion breakthrough

During the press conference, Arata Prabhakar shared a moment of thought with the audience.

“I also have been reflecting on how long the journey can be from knowing to doing,” she said. “Because it’s been a century since we figured out that it was fusion [powering the stars]. And in that century, it took so many different advances that ultimately came together to the point that we could replicate that fusion activity in this controllable way in a laboratory.”

Time – even on a scale of decades – is a concept that investors are familiar with. Time is needed to make money, invest money and see results from those investments.

If nuclear fusion can be brought to scale commercially, it represents unlimited energy for humanity – and massive earnings potential for the investors who stuck around.

Q.ai is here to help you invest in that future, and that earnings potential.

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It’s investing made easy, smart and green.

And as LLNL Director Kim Budil said Tuesday, “The science and technology challenges on the path to fusion energy are daunting, but making the seemingly impossible, possible is when we’re at our very best.”

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