MIT centers, laboratories, departments and programs provide a multi-faceted approach to solving the world's energy challenge.
Fusion
The vision of fusion energy remains powerful even after 50 years of research. Fusion energy has the potential to become the world's primary source of virtually inexhaustible baseload electricity. Its fuel supplies are widely accessible to all nations; it is an intrinsically safe form of nuclear energy; and it is environmentally friendly, releasing no carbon dioxide or other pollutants.
Fusion energy represents an extremely long-term proposition that involves a sustained focus on fundamental research and development. Complicated and difficult technical problems place the reality of this promising energy source on the 30 -to 50-year time horizon at the earliest.
There are, however, promising developments that provide optimism for overcoming the technical barriers to fusion as a primary energy source. The construction of the International Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor (ITER) will provide opportunities for resolving some of the key technology challenges. Basic research focuses on understanding the behavior of the plasma, notably its turbulence, which causes unacceptable levels of heat loss. While most attention has focused on the donut-shaped tokamak, reactor vessels with other configurations are also being investigated.
