How far away are we from fusion power?

Talk about scientific and technological developments in the future
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Lilymoon
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How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by Lilymoon »

How far away are we from fusion power?

I keep reading it is 10 years away. But that was back than.

So how far away before fusion power plant? Where cities are going to be building fusion power plant to power the city.

Also when it comes to quantum computers what does the timeline say? Is this some thing 20 years away or more like 50 years away or more.
weatheriscool
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Re: How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by weatheriscool »

Fusion: I predict that we'll have sustain fusion within 5-8 years. Every year these past few years they've manage to sustain net energy for longer and longer periods. It won't take much for this to be sustained. This will happen within 5 -8 years and once that is had we'll likely have our first plant within 12-15 years.

Quantum computers. We all ready have those. If you're saying better then super computers...Well, that maybe a few years off but hardly 20 or 50 years.
Lilymoon
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Re: How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by Lilymoon »

We don’t have Quantum computers in office buildings or homes it mostly research labs and universities.
firestar464
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Re: How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by firestar464 »

From Aflatoxin:
Aflatoxin wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2025 4:10 pm Fusion power is nearing commercial availability
the mentioned DEMO Plant was delayed from 2040 to 2050
https://www.iter.org/fusion-energy/after-iter

on the other hand, a fluff piece by General Electric promises commercial fusion by the 2030s
https://generalfusion.com/fusion-demo-plant/
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raklian
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Re: How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by raklian »

My personal joke about fusion is we're always getting closer to it. :lol:
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
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wjfox
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Re: How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by wjfox »

ITER won't even be starting research operations until at least 2034, and will probably get delayed yet again.

DEMO, the successor to ITER, probably won't happen until 2050 or thereabouts.

It's possible that a small commercial company will come up with an alternative that isn't so capital intensive or technically complex.

But realistically, I wouldn't expect fusion to be widespread until the second half of this century. Even then, a combination of renewables, batteries/storage and cross-border connections may provide all the energy and baseload we'll ever need, at much lower cost, making fusion sort of redundant. It might be better suited to long-duration spacecraft or distant colonies in the outer Solar System that lack sunlight for solar.
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raklian
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Re: How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by raklian »

Depending on how AI develops and how we use it, we might bring fusion to fruition sooner than pessimistic estimates.
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
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raklian
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Re: How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by raklian »

According to ChatGPT:

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To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
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zzz
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Re: How far away are we from fusion power?

Post by zzz »

raklian wrote: Sun Jun 08, 2025 6:58 pm According to ChatGPT:

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Pretty layout.
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