Microsoft just made a huge, far-from-certain bet on nuclear fusion
by Justine Calma from The Verge - All Posts on (#6BMFW)
An end view of one of Helion's prototypes. | Image: Helion Microsoft just signed a jaw-dropping agreement to purchase electricity from a nuclear fusion generator. Nuclear fusion, often called the Holy Grail of energy, is a potentially limitless source of clean energy that scientists have been chasing for the better part of a century.
A company called Helion Energy thinks it can deliver that Holy Grail to Microsoft by 2028. It announced a power purchase agreement with Microsoft this morning that would see it plug in the world's first commercial fusion generator to a power grid in Washington. The goal is to generate at least 50 megawatts of power - a small but significant amount and more than the 42MW that the US's first two offshore wind farms have the capacity to generate today.
It's the most...