Nuclear fusion — and its potential for abundant, clean energy — has been around for years, and while breakthroughs have been made, up to this point, no one has been able to harness that energy and produce it at scale. But according to TechCrunch, the startup Realta Fusion might be about to change that.
Traditional forms of energy generation, like coal and gas, produce massive amounts of planet-warming pollution like carbon dioxide. This supercharges extreme weather events, like floods and drought, that threaten lives and the global food supply.
Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, creates no planet-warming pollution while at the same time producing near limitless energy. Realta is looking to harness this energy with what it's calling Anvil, which will use the magnetic mirror concept.
This works by confining energized particles, known as plasma, in a symmetrical bottle shape with powerful magnets at each end pushing the plasma toward the center. Weaker magnets will help form a plasma cylinder in the middle. The plasma will reach incredibly high temperatures, and the particles will begin to fuse, releasing a massive amount of energy.
Realta has already raised $36 million and is preparing for the next round of investment to help make the Anvil prototype reactor a reality.
"By the end of our Series A investment period," Realta co-founder and CEO Kieran Furlong told TechCrunch, "we'll have said, 'Hey, we have a design. We're shovel ready to go and build Anvil.'"
Building these complex machines takes a huge upfront investment. Realta hopes to build a power plant that would initially be able to supply power at $100 per megawatt-hour. One megawatt can power roughly 750 to 1,000 homes at once.
To build and run a natural gas power plant, it costs anywhere from $45 to $100 per megawatt-hour. Realta hopes to eventually get to the point that it can produce energy at $40 per megawatt-hour as technology improves.
Realta is well in its way. Last year, it set a record for a magnetic field confining a plasma. Still, while some scientists are optimistic that this energy can be harnessed within the next decade, others believe it will be much longer before consumers can reap the benefits.
While we wait for nuclear fusion to become a viable source of energy on a wide scale, the best way for consumers to get cheap and clean energy is to install solar panels. The process of finding the best deals, as well as any local or federal tax incentives, can seem daunting, but EnergySage provides a free service that will do all of that for you.
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