U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm recently announced $2.3 million for 10 research projects.
The U.S. Department of Energy projects will pair private industry with DOE National Laboratories to explore solutions to fusion energy development challenges, according to a Jan. 17 news release.
“We were elated when the team at Livermore delivered the news that they had achieved fusion ignition, and we knew that was just the beginning,” Granholm said in the release. "The companies and DOE scientists will build on advances from the National Labs with the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector to advance our understanding of fusion.”
In December, a team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successfully created fusion ignition, a process that had never been accomplished before in a lab setting, according to the release. The lab’s accomplishment raised interest in the possibilities in the development of fusion energy as a cleaner energy option. The funds will be allocated to labs to explore various options in using fusion ignition as a clean source for energy.
The funds are provided by the DOE Office of Science through its Innovation Network for Fusion Energy, the release reported. Leading the research projects are seven private companies, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Energy Driven Technologies LLC, Focused Energy, General Atomics, Princeton Stellarators Inc., Tokamak Energy Inc., and Type One Energy Group. These companies will have access to resources offered by DOE National Laboratories.
