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In recent years, the development of fusion energy has accelerated, promising to revolutionize clean energy production and reshape the global energy landscape.

According to the Fusion Industry Association, total investments in the fusion industry have surpassed $7.1 billion as of 2024, reflecting a surge driven by significant growth in both public and private funding.

Public funding alone increased by 57 percent in the last 12 months to $426 million, indicating government recognition of fusion’s potential.

This surge underscores the substantial benefits offered by fusion energy. Not only is it low carbon, but it is also inherently safe; fusion reactions are self-limiting and cannot cause meltdowns.

It is also reliable, with abundant fuel sources like deuterium, which is found in seawater, and tritium, which can be bred from lithium.

Globally, the race to harness fusion energy already includes 45 startups employing more than 4,000 people, all exploring various methods to achieve practical fusion power.

Helion Energy stands out in this burgeoning field, backed by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who has invested more than $375 million in the company. Altman’s support underscores the growing confidence in fusion’s potential to transform the energy landscape.

In a landmark move signaling corporate faith in fusion’s viability, Microsoft committed to purchasing electricity from Helion’s inaugural fusion power plant which is scheduled for deployment in 2028.

Such commitments not only validate fusion technology but also accelerate its path to commercialization.

Fusion’s potential extends beyond electricity generation. It could potentially become the next general purpose technology, fundamentally transforming the energy industry.

Recent breakthroughs, like achieving net energy gain from fusion reactions — as demonstrated by the National Ignition Facility in December 2022, where scientists produced 3.15 megajoules of energy from an input of 2.05 megajoules — make this prospect more tangible.

As energy-intensive........

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