Nuclear Fusion: BBC News

The United Kingdom, investing £200 million, expects to unveil a demonstration nuclear fusion model by 2025 and to use such reactors to supply energy by 2040. Nuclear fusion relies on heating hydrogen atoms at high temperatures to replicate the processes of the Sun on Earth, explains Matt McGrath for BBC News. “With the price of wind and solar continuing to drop, experts say these existing renewables might offer a more economical and timely method of tackling climate change and generating energy than an unproven technology like fusion,” he writes, adding that explosions are a risk of the low-carbon energy source. Developing nuclear fusion is costly with a range of efforts emerging around the world: 35 nations have joined Iter, a research cooperative based in France, and the Joint European Torus is based in the UK. Small companies tied to universities are also working to develop fusion energy. –YaleGlobal