AmericaFuZe is a small and cost-effective device that can quickly reach fusion power temperatures to meet future human electricity needs. Developed by fusion energy startup Zap Energy in the US, this compact device can achieve electron plasma temperatures of 1 – 3 keV, which is equivalent to 11 – 37 million degrees Celsius. Fusion reactions are considered a promising way to generate large amounts of energy, as they release 10 million times more energy than coal.
Despite nearly a century of research on fusion reactions, only a few technologies have been able to achieve plasma temperatures above 15 million degrees Celsius, similar to the core temperature of the Sun. The creation of plasma, the fourth state of matter, is the first step in the fusion process. However, the heating and cooling rates of the two components of fusion plasma – nuclei and electrons – can present challenges in developing fusion reactors.
Zap Energy was founded in 2020 based on research funded by the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project at the University of Washington. Their device, FuZe, utilizes a plasma confinement method called Fusion Z-pinch Experiment to prevent rapid cooling of electrons. By using thin filaments of plasma to create an electromagnetic field that heats and compresses the plasma, Zap Energy has been able to address the cooling issue.
The next project, Fuze-Q, is currently in development and promises an energy capacity 10 times greater than FuZe. Collaborating with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California, San Diego, researchers have been able to measure the separate temperatures of nuclei and electrons in the FuZe plasma using the Thomson scattering method. This research has been published in the journal Physical Review Letters, demonstrating the potential of FuZe as a cost-effective and efficient fusion technology.