Commonwealth Fusion has raised $2 billion to make energy like the sun and stars

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Commonwealth Fusion has raised $2 billion to make energy like the sun and stars — here’s a look inside

By District Energy posted 06-13-2023 12:49

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Summary

Commonwealth Fusion Systems CEO Bob Mumgaard is a student of the history of technology.

“If you go and you look at what fusion looks like today, you say, ‘Oh this feels kind of like flight in 1918,’” Mumgaard told CNBC in a recent video interview.

In June 1919, two British aviators and war veterans made the first-ever nonstop transatlantic flight, departing from St. John’s, Newfoundland, and landing in County Galway, Ireland. A century later, transatlantic flights are so common, they’re not even noteworthy.

Nuclear fusion is the way stars make energy. A fusion reaction releases more energy than nuclear fission, which is the way nuclear reactors generate power today. Similar to fission, fusion does not release any of the greenhouse gasses that cause global warming. Unlike fission, it also does not generate long-lasting nuclear waste.

For all these reasons, fusion is often called the “Holy Grail” of clean energy.

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