Energy

TAE Technologies, the world’s largest private fusion energy company, has announced a landmark partnership with Japan’s National Institute of Fusion Science (NIFS) that enables the two organisations to test the effects of hydrogen-boron (p-B11) fusion reactions in the NIFS Large Helical Device (LHD). The results of this research have the potential to unlock a new milestone in TAE’s mission to develop commercial fusion power with p-B11, the cleanest and most affordable fuel for fusion cycles. Fusion is the process of combining elements to release large amounts of energy. It is a carbon-free, baseload energy solution to address both climate change and the growing global energy demand. Most fusion efforts around the world are focused on combining hydrogen isotopes deuterium-tritium (D-T) to use as fuel; the donut-shaped tokamak machines commonly used in fusion concepts are limited to D-T fuel. In contrast, TAE’s compact linear design uses an advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) that can accommodate all available fusion fuel cycles, including D-T and deuterium-helium-3 (D-He-3), a benefit that uniquely enables the company to license its technology on the way to its ultimate goal of connecting the first p-B11 fusion power plant to the grid by the end of this decade. TAE is developing commercial fusion power plants using p-B11 because it is the most economical and environmentally friendly fuel cycle for fusion. P-B11 eliminates the need for breeding tritium, thus offering cleaner, safer operations while maximising the durability and lifetime of the fusion plant. The boron in p-B11 is ubiquitous in nature, found in vast deposits in the earth’s crust and sea water, and is used in detergents and other industrial commodities. The partnership between NIFS and TAE represents the first public-private fusion research using this advanced fuel. NIFS is an inter-university research institute located in Toki City and works with […]

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is hopeful China and the United States will set aside their differences at U.N. climate change talks in Glasgow, just as they came together in 2015 to help hammer out the Paris Agreement. Speaking in an interview broadcast on Monday at the Reuters Impact conference, Gore also said China could surprise the world by bringing forward one or both of its targets for reaching peak emissions and becoming carbon neutral. Gore said frictions between China and the United States, the world’s top two greenhouse gas polluters, had to be taken into account. Beijing and Washington have clashed over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, as well as military activity in the South China Sea. But Gore, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on informing the world about climate change, held out hope that tensions between the two could ease at the U.N. COP26 talks in Glasgow, Scotland, which start on Oct. 31. “It’s true that in the earlier part of this year … it didn’t seem as if the stars were aligned,” he said. “Since then, we have seen a welcome pledge from (President) Xi Jinping at the U.N. General Assembly, announcing that China will halt its financing of overseas coal plants.” Xi announced last month that China would stop building new coal-fired power plants overseas after similar pledges by Japan and South Korea earlier this year. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry had urged China to follow their lead. Ahead of COP26, global business leaders and politicians are taking part in the Reuters Impact conference to discuss efforts to mitigate climate change and drive sustainable growth. Gore said he believes Xi could pull forward one or both of the climate targets that he set at last year’s U.N. General […]