‘We're Definitely on the Back Foot’: U.S. Risks Losing Fusion Energy Race to China, Industry Leaders
upstart writes:
The race to lead in artificial intelligence isn't the only event in which the U.S. and China are competing for dominance. The pursuit of fusion - the "Holy Grail" of clean energy - is also pitting the superpowers against each other, and American tech leaders worry China could surge ahead.
At a Technology Alliance conference on Tuesday, Washington state companies building commercial fusion technologies raised concerns about China's strategy to pour resources into fusion.
"The U.S. is not committed to fusion. China is, by orders of magnitude," said Ben Levitt, the head of R&D for Zap Energy, speaking on a fusion panel at the Seattle Investor Summit+Showcase.
While the U.S. government spent approximately $800 million a year on fusion efforts during the Biden administration, China is investing more than twice that annually, IEEE Spectrum and others report. The Trump administration has taken action supporting nuclear fission, which powers today's nuclear reactors, but has not shown the same interest in fusion. The sector has become increasingly reliant on venture capital to fund its progress.
China is also focused on training fusion physicists and engineers, while President Trump is slashing funding for scientific research.
Fusion is so highly sought after given its potential to provide nearly limitless, carbon-free power, which could be critical to meet growing energy demands from AI applications and the global push to decarbonize transportation, the electrical grid, heating and cooling, industrial applications and elsewhere.
"The U.S. started with a very good hand in fusion and has played it extremely poorly," Levitt said. "So, yeah, we're definitely on the back foot."
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