Why Fusion power is important

The brief case for power generation using Fusion

My PhD is in Fusion.  Fusion has the potential to be a long-term, low environmental cost and locally generated supply of electricity.  This is important - fuel is running out.  For a very brief period in human history, we have been consuming fossil fuels to generate power.  Fossil fuels are a finite resource and if we are to continue to generate power, an essential utility for nearly everything we do in this modern world, we're going to have to find alternatives.  Even nuclear fission has a very limited fuel supply; if all the electricity in the world were to switch to nuclear and energy use stopped expanding, we'd have, at absolute best, 200 years worth of fuel.  It's arguable when fossil fuels will run out but they certainly will.

It is also essential that power generation doesn't continue to pollute the environment.  Power generation is more important to us than the pollution, but it will cost.  Everyone knows the environmental costs of our current behaviour to some extent, so I won't dwell.

There is the less mentioned but ever prevalent energy security issue.  The western world is dependent on politically unstable regions for our fuel.  Russia turns off its pipelines for political gain, America goes to war over oil in the middle east.  It might be a cost that is necessary - perpetual and increasing dependency on foreign states for power - but it is unpalatable.

There are 2 viable technologies that can potentially supply the world demand for power, solar power and fusion, and both are non-ideal.  Solar power does not answer the difficulty of locally generated power supply - mass solar generation would have to be done in hot places with lots of space not used for other things.  Deserts.  And an infrastructure for long distance transmission of this power would have to be set up, through many other 3rd world states.  Very similar to the political and security issues we have at the moment with oil and other fuels.

Fusion, on the other hand, doesn't work and won't work for  at least another 40 years.  It is difficult, much more difficult than could have been envisioned when it was first discovered.  The physics is working, more or less, and 2 proof of concept of concept facilities, NIF and ITER, are coming online and will be working within the decade, likely sooner.  There is a truck load of engineering to be done - it seems  more likely  than not that the difficulties will be overcome, but they are not trivial.

My PhD relates to a possible answer to one of those questions, a slight increment to making Fusion power a reality.

Next the plan in this explanation is to jump into some physics to explain what Fusion is so that I can explain what my PhD relates to specifically.