[simiones]

> generate effectively unlimited amounts of energy

I don't understand where this concept is coming from. The best ever fusion power experiments so far have not even produced 1 miliwatt net electrical power. ITER, if it succeeds in its 30 year timeline, will not be even close to engineering breakeven (net power generation) - they estimate 0.57 output power/input power ratio - with DEMO hoping to break even 20 years later.

Why is there this bizarre idea that we'll jump from <massive effort to get even one miliwatt> to <unlimited power> with fusion?

[arcanon]

It’s not unlimited power, it’s unlimited fuel.

The hype is coming from REBCO tape magnets which aren’t in ITER. Many consider ITER to already be obsolete.

This is like how computers used to take up whole rooms in the 50s but later could sit in the corner. Fusion takes up whole buildings (ITER) but the MIT ppl proved a magnet so that it can fit in just a room.

As our magnets get stronger the tokamaks can get smaller. Room sized tokamak is manageable for commercialization. Commonwealth Fusion Systems has a pretty clear path it seems.

[civilized]

There's a nearby fusion reactor that generates quite a lot of power. You may have heard of it.

Jokes aside, fusion would provide way more energy per fuel mass than any other source if we could only contain sufficiently hot plasma. Better magnets may be the key, as the other comment alludes.