The 'dumb machine' promising a clean energy breakthrough
Summary
Proxima Fusion, a German company, is developing a stellarator fusion reactor called Alpha, which aims to produce more energy than it consumes. Stellarators use twisted magnetic fields to control hot plasma, potentially making fusion reactors easier to operate compared to the more common tokamak design, though they are harder to build.Key Facts
- Nuclear fusion is a process where hydrogen atoms combine, releasing huge amounts of energy like the Sun.
- Fusion reactors need to heat fuel to extremely high temperatures and control the hot plasma with magnets.
- Common fusion reactors use a tokamak shape, which is doughnut-like and easier to build.
- Proxima Fusion is using a stellarator design, which is more complex but might control plasma more simply.
- Proxima’s Alpha stellarator builds on research from Germany’s Max Planck Institute’s W7-X stellarator.
- The company recently received €400 million from Bavaria and seeks over $1 billion from the German federal government.
- The goal is a fusion reactor that generates more energy than it uses, paving the way for future fusion power plants.
- There are over 50 fusion projects worldwide, with some, like the UK’s STEP, using the tokamak design.
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