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Fusion seems like a rare opportunity to do remarkable impact for human society while also making a remarkable profit. Frankly, if I was a billionaire, I would t
by keenmaster 6y ago
Fusion seems like a rare opportunity to do remarkable impact for human society while also making a remarkable profit. Frankly, if I was a billionaire, I would treat fusion investments as half-charity. That's why I don't understand how so many billionaires have pledged to give a large % of their wealth away but the most promising privately funded fusion energy project only has $200 million in funding. That kind of discrepancy increases my respect for tech evangelists, Ray Kurzweil, etc...because marketing the future might bring it closer. We need more of that.
- credit_guy 6y agoBill Gates is doing just that, but with fission rather than fusion. If the aim is to fight climate change, then fission is a proven technology, while fusion is a very risky bet.
- keenmaster 6y agoGreat. We should build standardized SMRs everywhere ASAP. Nonetheless, we don't have to pick between SMRs and fusion reactors. We can do both. The riskiness of fusion can be counteracted by taking an investing-as-charity approach to the whole field. If a billionaire is fine moving humanity closer to a low scarcity, carbon-free future without necessarily getting a commensurate payout, they should invest in fusion. Additionally, if they continuously invest in fusion and spread their investments across multiple fusion "bets," they can maximize their chance of making an outsized return.