Researchers: Nuclear fusion has made important progress
According to scientists, nuclear fusion has recently achieved important milestones on the way to its potential use as an energy source. "There has already been very significant progress in fusion research, which encourages the general public that this is not just a castle in the air that will be tinkered with forever," Thomas Klinger, head of the "Wendelstein 7-X" fusion experiment near Greifswald, told the German Press Agency. Politicians have also "pricked up their ears".
A year ago, researchers in the USA reported that, for the first time, they had generated more energy in a fusion experiment using lasers than was directly put into it. According to Klinger, there will also be milestones in nuclear fusion research using magnets, for example at the beginning of 2021 in the UK or a year later in Greifswald.
Markus Roth from the Technical University of Darmstadt also referred to the growing number of start-ups that are revitalizing nuclear fusion. Some of them have attracted private investment in the billions. Roth himself co-founded a German-American start-up in the field of laser fusion. In recent months, German politicians have pledged additional money for fusion research.
Critics, however, say that expectations are overestimated. They say that nuclear fusion is coming too late as a potential energy source and that the focus should be placed more on renewable energies, grids and storage.
Source: www.dpa.com
