Two Madison-area companies get federal money to help curb climate change through fusion energy - Madison.com

2 Madison-area companies get federal money to help curb climate change through fusion energy

Two Madison-area companies were among eight U.S. businesses awarded a total of $46 million on Wednesday to try to curb the world’s climate crisis through nuclear fusion.

Realta Fusion, a fusion energy startup founded in the fall of 2022, received $12 million from the federal government and other organizations to design a magnetic bottle device that could help reduce the reliance industries that make common materials like plastic have on fossil fuels, Realta said.
Scientists announced Tuesday that they have for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it — a major breakthrough in the decades-long quest to harness the process that powers the sun. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved the result, which is called net energy gain, the Energy Department said. Net energy gain has been an elusive goal because fusion happens at such high temperatures and pressures that it is incredibly difficult to control. Proponents of fusion hope that it could one day offer nearly limitless, carbon-free energy and displace fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources. Producing energy that powers homes and businesses from fusion is still decades away. But researchers said the announcement marked a significant advance nonetheless. "We are going to need a diverse options of energy production to deploy. And nuclear energy, both fission and fusion, really must be a part of that equation,"said Carolyn Kuranz of University of Michigan. Fusion works by pressing hydrogen atoms into each other with such force that they combine into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy and heat. Unlike other nuclear reactions, it doesn't create radioactive waste.

That company was spun out of a two-year project at UW-Madison led by physics professor Cary Forest, who is Realta’s co-founder and chief scientific officer. The money for that project — $10 million — came from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Project’s Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E program.

Nuclear fusion is a reaction that occurs in stars where two or more atoms are combined to make a larger atom along with the release of large quantities of energy, Forest explained.

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The magnetic bottle device Realta Fusion has been developing essentially replicates the nuclear fusion process with mirrors, Forest said.

Nuclear fusion currently has applications in medical imaging, but Forest said “what we really care about is making a lot of energy” and using the heat the device could generate to make things like concrete, plastics, steel and even fertilizers. There could also, realistically in about a decade, be applications for electricity production, Forest said, as well as burning up waste created by current nuclear fusion reactors.

Currently, fossil fuels are used to make such industrial materials, he explained, adding that those make up more than half the world’s carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to the global warming problem. Despite the rapid adoption of renewable energies like wind and solar, the startup said 80% of global energy is still supplied by fossil fuels.

The $12 million will cover the engineering design and physics of Realta Fusion’s next magnetic bottle device, said Realta Fusion CEO Kieran Furlong. The tech Realta’s five-person team has been working on the last few years is an early proof of concept. The money will also add more workers to the startup.

Khosla Ventures, an investment company out of California, supplied Realta $9 million, and the U.S. Department of Energy $3 million.

Another Madison-area company, Type One Energy Group, of Middleton, also received federal funding to advance its nuclear fusion technologies .

That company Wednesday confirmed the award, but did not provide specifics about what nuclear fusion project the money was for or how much funding was received.

Type One Energy Group in March received $29 million to “commercialize its stellarator fusion technology,” the company said in a statement.

According to the Department of Energy, a stellarator is a machine that uses magnetic fields to confine a nuclear material known as plasma in the shape of a donut called a torus. The magnetic fields allow scientists to control the plasma particles and create the right conditions for fusion reactions.

The machines use extremely strong electromagnets to “generate twisting magnetic fields that wrap the long way around the donut shape,” according to the department.

Part of a larger U.S. effort

The $46 million awarded to the eight companies to advance nuclear fusion technologies comes from the federal Energy Act of 2020 and covers the first 18 months of research for each company’s project.

Some of the projects may last up to five years, and future federal government money is contingent upon whether companies can deliver on what they promise, the Department of Energy said.

Other companies receiving money are Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Massachusetts, Focused Energy in Texas, Princeton Stellarators in New Jersey, Tokamak Energy in West Virginia, Xeimer Energy in California and Zap Energy in Washington.

The federal money comes after researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it, which is known as energy net gain. The achievement in December has paved the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power, the Department of Energy said.

“Fusion offers the potential to create the power of the sun right here on Earth,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to partnering with innovative researchers and companies across the country to take fusion energy past the lab and toward the grid.”

Emilie Heidemann picks her 5 favorite 2022 stories

"The storm will abate, and the sun will rise again."

That was a quote I read recently. It's was written by a renowned psychiatrist who actually practices locally.

It's hard not to get caught in the throes of all the headlines and wonder what the world is coming to. Even for me – an anxious and introverted pessimist-who-is-secretly-an-optimist with high hopes that, while the world may seem bleak at times, things will eventually get better.

There are still pockets of joy even in the deepest pits of fire.

I never envisioned that my journalism career would entail weathering an ongoing pandemic whose affects are likely to be felt for decades to come. For one story this year, I drove for miles as cars lined up outside a pharmacy waiting for a COVID-19 test amid a shortage caused by the omicron variant.

Eventually, that shortage eased. And more is now known about the once mystery virus that had everyone fearing an apocalypse was imminent.

Soon after, with a colleague and friend, we highlighted the problems plaguing Wisconsin's childcare industry as exacerbated by pandemic.

Since then, various organizations have sought ways to better support parents and providers with more work to be done. Sometimes, it takes work to make things better.

I covered the city of Madison's effort to better support businesses owned by people of color last spring. I recall one of my sources texting to tell me I had created "art" once the story published. Efforts continue.

Additionally, I wrote about how a local uptick in unionization rates (that's continuing by the way) was reflective of a national trend, and how the Dane County employers were jumping on the bandwagon to support workers with children despite no federal guidelines for doing so.

There are still no federal guidelines in December 2022, but the story did inspire a well-written column by the Wisconsin State Journal's editorial board.

Solving some problems may have to start with new knowledge and awareness, just like storms always start with lightning, and then cracks of thunder.

The clouds always pass with time. And the sun comes out again.

That's my personal theme for 2022. Enjoy the below collection.

Lines stretching 50 to 60 vehicles. Wait times topping two hours. Empty shelves normally stocked with at-home coronavirus test kits. Cold symp…

Before Angie Riedemann’s family moved to Madison at the end of January, the post-doctoral researcher contacted 40 local child care facilities …

A financial coach who helps Black women take control of their finances. An African landscaper who beautifies private yards and gardens. A text…

A growing number of workers in Madison and around the country have moved to unionize or picket as they push for higher wages, better working c…

‘Paying their fair share’: Madison companies embrace paid parental leave, but experts say more is needed

A global purveyor of gardening tools and a biotechnology company recently became the latest of Madison’s larger workplaces to offer employees …