Editorial: A moonshot, in Devens
Rarely ever do you see Bill Gates, Joe Biden, and the community of Devens all in one story, but the palpable excitement around the opening of a $2-billion energy company in Central Massachusetts is creating just such that buzz, with the future of the world’s energy sources and climate on the line.
Five years after its founding and two years after announcing its intentions to build a 50-acre campus in North Worcester County, Commonwealth Fusion Systems cut the ribbon on its new Devens facility on Feb. 10. Among the attendees were U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Sen. Edward Markey, who all spoke to the importance CFS could play on the global stage. The ribbon cutting was an important milestone in the history of the young company spun out of MIT, and it hopes to have many more significant moments over the course of the next decade.
With its SPARC system, CFS is working furiously to create the first commercially viable fusion reactor, with the aim of having it contributing power to the electric grid by 2032. Fusion is something of white horse in energy generation. A cousin of the fission reaction that powers today’s nuclear plants, fusion is essentially using the same reaction powering the sun. In theory, and that theory keeps moving closer to reality, fusion reactors could generate massive amounts of electricity at a relatively low cost, without greenhouse gas emissions, and without the nuclear waste created by fission reactors. Biden has called for fusion power to be part of the global economy’s clean energy future within the next 10 years.
However, the technology remains elusive. Only this past December were researchers in California able to create the first net-positive fusion reaction, where the system generates more energy than it consumes, and that breakthrough lasted for just a few moments. CFS believes its technology has cracked the code, and has convinced investors enough to raise $2 billion, including an investment from Gates, the Microsoft co-founder. The confidence displayed by CFS and CEO Bob Mumgaard about the SPARC technology is inspiring, and our hope is their confidence is well founded, despite the roadblocks.
The move to a clean energy future will be built on the backs of proven, incremental technology like solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, and electric vehicles. Yet, we need gamechanger technology as well to bend the curve on the clean energy transformation. Commonwealth Fusion Systems is not the only one in its niche working on a winning breakthrough technology, yet the company is off to an incredible start with the facility opening in Devens. The fact this breakthrough science is happening in our backyard, and the potential economic impact of the company can have on our region, makes it all the more exciting.
WBJ Web Partners
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