Jeff Bezos Is Helping Build a Fusion Power Plant in the UK – Futurism

Yes, fusion. Billionaires are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into fusion energy startups.Bezos Fusion

A Canadian fusion energy company is set to break ground on a large-scale nuclear fusion demonstration plant in Culham, UK and its being funded by one of the richest men in the world: the one and only Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as the BBC reports.

The company General Fusion is one of many startups attempting to make fusion energy a reality. Rather than splitting atoms, the process involves fusing hydrogen atoms together under high heat and pressure inside a reactor.

The process releases copious of amounts of energy but so far, researchers have yet to make a net gain. Getting the fusion reaction started still takes significantly more energy than what its capable of producing.

With funding from the likes of Bezos however, the private sector has a better shot than ever in making fusion a viable alternative to other renewable forms of energy production.

General Fusions upcoming test plant wont however be generating power. The facility, which is roughly 70 percent the size of a commercial reactor, aims to be operational by 2025, according to the BBC, and lay the groundwork for future reactors.

The company raised $100 million in its last round of funding and has also received funding from the UK government.

Its approach to fusion energy involves compressing extremely hot plasma inside a cylinder that is lined by a wall of liquid metal, a process called magnetized target fusion. The heat then is used to generate steam and spin a turbine.

For decades, scientists have attempted to establish fusion energy as a limitless low-carbon form of energy whether the investment will end up paying off? Anybodys guess. But the basic fact of a power player like Bezos continuing to establish themselves in this space makes one thing clear: Its a question someone and someone very important, with several nations worth of wealth wants answered, now more than ever.

READ MORE: Nuclear energy: Fusion plant backed by Jeff Bezos to be built in UK [BBC]

More on fusion: Worlds Strongest Magnet Could Help Make Fusion Energy a Reality

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Jeff Bezos Is Helping Build a Fusion Power Plant in the UK - Futurism