COP 29 signals arrival of nuclear fusion on earth

© R Saha The recent recommendation in the COP29 of providing funds up to $ 300 billion from 2035 to developing countries to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, has caused tremendous disappointment among them including India. Dependence on developed countries does not seem to be working which is not surprising. There are no free lunches. Developing nations who would access the finances would have to pay for technologies necessary for fighting climate change. The cost involved in acquiring technologies may be high and its implementation may further add to the cost. We do not even know if those technologies which are in realm of hypothesis, would lead to benefits, we expect to accrue from the use of such technologies. We need to think out of the box to utilize our knowledge to its limit. Replicating natural processes occurring in the outer space on the earth seems to open new sources of energy. Come to think of it, these processes have managed to ensure a sustainable and long-lasting solar system. Sun is at the centre stage supplying energy to all its constituents. None of the life forms is possible in the absence of sun. The most understood process is the nuclear fusion occurring on sun responsible for almost infinite source of energy. Production of nuclear fusion is almost like creating a star on the earth. Startups across many countries, predominantly in USA, are actively engaged in producing nuclear fusion on earth and few success stories have been coming for the last two and half years. Lot of private funding is pouring into the activities of these startups. An estimate by the Fusion Industry Association, funds to the tune of $ 7 billion have been pumped in so far. The startups have strong portfolio of patents and other intellectual property rights which may become very expensive to access for anyone needing to use such patents. The risk of having to pay high cost towards acquiring technology can be reduced by timely action today through collaboration, cooperation and sharing of costs. How many of the startups will merge with bigger industries or grow to a large size is a matter of speculation at this stage. A close look at these start-ups may reap fruits in future. The pace at which things are happening demands quick action by us. Geopolitics around nuclear fusion is growing fast and becoming interesting. Several countries which do not have their own nuclear programme like India, are entering this arena to be on the frontline to utilize the technology. Given the expertise of India in harnessing and utilizing nuclear energy (through fission route), she can become a leader in propelling geopolitics. Is it possible that $300 billion may be adequate for setting up nuclear fusion plants, experimental or full scale, which the developed world is aiming at? Supply of raw material like isotopes of hydrogen, high temperature metals and alloys will become critical as it would be controlled by few countries. We can see a similar scenario in case of EV technology. India should seriously raise its efforts from the present level and upscale its expertise to produce nuclear fusion as a source of common source of energy in the next few decades. It requires heavy investment, a few notches higher than what we have made in nuclear fusion programme so far. While the government may supply the initial funding to lay the foundation, it is the private sector which will have to take the baton to reach the level of commercial exploitation of nuclear fusion. The government has to set up a positive policy framework for attracting private players to invest; these players may be from India and elsewhere. If necessary, a new legal framework may also be established as has been done in some countries. The immediate step is to have a fund of funds to invest in research and development to achieve nuclear fusion on earth. A different and specialized workforce of engineers are required to manage the challenges for producing nuclear fusion. The available skill set may not be adequate. In the present scenario, India should explore joining several bilateral and multilateral arrangements other than ITER across continents. India is already a member of ITER, which is among the best multilateral cooperations. Commercial production of energy from nuclear fusion on the earth may become a reality by 2047 when we hope to become a leader in the world economy. A long-term action plan needs to be prepared covering all possible dimensions of producing nuclear fusion and supply energy to house holds and industries.