Over the last couple of years there have been some major breakthroughs with regards to fusion energy, which is essentially harnessing the same power used to power our Sun. Now, researchers have achieved quite possibly the biggest breakthrough yet, as they have now confirmed that their laser-driven reaction created more energy than it took to initiate.
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00:00 [Music]
00:04 Over the last couple of years, there have been some major breakthroughs with regards
00:07 to fusion energy, which is essentially harnessing the same power that energizes the sun.
00:12 Now researchers have achieved quite possibly the biggest breakthrough yet, as they have
00:16 now confirmed that their laser-driven reaction created more energy than it took to initiate.
00:21 The experiment involved firing 2.05 megajoules of lasers at a fuel source, fusing them into
00:26 helium and producing 3.15 megajoules of energy as a result.
00:31 This was proof that we could potentially create basically unlimited clean energy, passing
00:35 the scientific break-even point.
00:37 With the researchers writing, "This achievement is the culmination of more than five decades
00:41 of research and gives proof that laboratory fusion, based on fundamental physics principles,
00:47 is possible."
00:48 However, that was only their first ignition test.
00:50 Subsequent tests with better dialed equipment have resulted in more energy output.
00:54 In fact, one of their more recent tests, conducted in 2023, resulted in 3.88 megajoules of energy
00:59 being created from the same 2.5 megajoule fuel.
01:03 That's nearly twice the energy created as was needed to start the fusion reaction.
01:07 Still experts say commercial fusion energy is still decades away, meaning our need for
01:11 other green energy sources remains.
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