3 ms·

We are spending a relatively pitiful amount of money on fusion power research. The US has spent $29B TOTAL in 2010 dollars from the 1950s through 2010. (I cou

We are spending a relatively pitiful amount of money on fusion power research. The US has spent $29B TOTAL in 2010 dollars from the 1950s through 2010. (I couldn't easily find global numbers, but I can't imagine it's more than an order of magnitude higher) Some other numbers for comparison: NASA's current ANNUAL budget is $19B. [1] The BP oil spill cost $40B. [2] "A 2016 IMF study estimated that global fossil fuel subsidies were $5.3 trillion in 2015, which represents 6.5% of global GDP." [3] The US alone spent $600B on fossil fuel subsidies in 2015. [3] >It's not obvious that throwing more money at the problem is going to change this. This is true, but we haven't funded it enough. The potential upside is insane. We aren't funding research accordingly. [1] https://www.quora.com/How-much-money-is-being-spent-on-research-for-fusion-reactor-compared-with-space-related-projects-by-developed-countries https://www.quora.com/How-much-money-is-being-spent-on-resea... [2] http://www.fusionenergyleague.org/index.php/blog/article/have_we_spent_too_much http://www.fusionenergyleague.org/index.php/blog/article/hav... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidies

mrep 8y ago
>>It's not obvious that throwing more money at the problem is going to change this. >This is true, but we haven't funded it enough. The potential upside is insane. We aren't funding research accordingly. How much money do you propose we throw at it then because even fission isn't profitable these days and that is something we know how to do. While I agree that it is worth something to pursue, wind/solar + batteries + smart grid are a way better investment these days since we cannot even produce a fusion reactor that is net positive in energy let alone economical.

mrep 8y ago

>>It's not obvious that throwing more money at the problem is going to change this. >This is true, but we haven't funded it enough. The potential upside is insane. We aren't funding research accordingly. How much money do you propose we throw at it then because even fission isn't profitable these days and that is something we know how to do. While I agree that it is worth something to pursue, wind/solar + batteries + smart grid are a way better investment these days since we cannot even produce a fusion reactor that is net positive in energy let alone economical.