Network Formed To Bring Fusion Power into Post-Fossil Fuel Energy Debate in Germany

Jan. 16. 2020, (EIRNS)—A new “liberal-conservative” circle has been formed at the initiative of several Bundestag members from the Christian Democracy (CDU/CSU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP), which among other ideas, announced its intent to campaign for increased input into the development of thermonuclear fusion power in order to ensure that fusion is not left out, since it is otherwise not referenced in any of ongoing official discussions about Germany’s planned final exit from nuclear power (2022) and coal power (2038), and what is to come afterwards.

The meetings today in Berlin on the timetable for the coal exit between the German federal and state governments have only so-called renewables on their agenda. The initiative to include fusion power is indicative of a growing ferment in Germany, not to mention uneasiness, about the government’s policy and of the impulse to bring to the public serious concepts for a secure future energy supply. Fusion power, which can use isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, as fuel, produces so much energy that it’s too costly to charge customers for it. Process head from fusion is used in a “fusion torch,” to reduce waste to its constituent elements, making mining a thing of the past.

Fusion power that uses helium-3 as fuel, can provide electricity directly, without relying on a turbine. That power could be used as a propellant in spacecraft, allowing high-speed travel to, say Mars, in weeks, rather than the dangerous longer-term journeys.