Fusion, The Ultimate Energy SourceAs stable, reliable, cheap, and carbon-neutral energy supplies become an increasingly pressing issue, all eyes have been on nuclear solutions.This includes nuclear fission, or the splitting of heavy atoms like uranium, thorium, or plutonium. This technology is making a dramatic comeback on the back of the phasing out of coal and gas power plants, despite the need for baseload power generation, as well as the trends of electrification of transportation, heating, and industrial production.It is, however, not without problems, even for the more advanced 4th generation of nuclear power plants. Most notably, it still involves the handling of highly radioactive materials, something the public is still wary of and never going to be fully environmentally neutral.This is why scientists have been looking at the promises of nuclear fusion, which merge together atoms like hydrogen, the same phenomenon powering the Sun.This would use a fuel that is the most abundant element in the Universe and produce only harmless helium or lithium. It would also be powerful enough to make available essentially infinite energy, with zero risk of explosion or runaway chain reaction.The problem is that producing the required conditions is so hard to achieve that no fusion reactor has ever come close to commercialization so far.This might change in less than a decade, at least according to Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). The company has just announced that it is moving toward building the first commercial fusion reactor in Virginia .CFS Reactor ProjectCommonwealth Fusion Systems is aiming for its ARC reactor to generate 400 MW for the Virginian power grid, which is enough to power 150,000 homes.This is a radical advancement for the field of nuclear fusion, as it always seemed that the first scale-up reactor was 20-30 years away. Even the massive international endeavor that is ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is not expected to be finished before 2039.In comparison, the CFS reactor is planned to be built on a site owned by the energy company Dominion (D +0.2%)

Clockwise from upper left: Chris Dunckley of TerraPower Isotopes (with Alexia Cosby); Stoke Space CEO Andy Lapsa; Ingrid Swanson Pultz at the Institute for Protein Design (with Clancey Wolf); and Uri Shumlak, co-founder of Zap Energy. This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we sit down with some of the Seattle region’s “Uncommon Thinkers” — inventors, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs transforming industries and driving positive change in the world.We recorded the episode on location, backstage at the GeekWire Gala, where we recognized five Uncommon Thinkers through this annual awards program, presented in partnership with Greater Seattle Partners. GeekWire co-founder John Cook, left, and Greater Seattle Partners COO Rebecca Lovell, fourth from left, with the “Uncommon Thinkers” honorees, Andy Lapsa, Ingrid Swanson Pultz, Uri Shumlak, and Chris Dunckley, at the GeekWire Gala. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)Speaking on the episode are: Uri Shumlak of Zap Energy, right, with GeekWire’s Todd Bishop. (GeekWire Photo / Curt Milton)Uri Shumlak, co-founder and chief scientist at Zap Energy, a physicist leading a team in pursuit of fusion energy, taking a different approach from others in the field. Read the profile.“Uncommon Thinkers” honoree Ingrid Swanson Pultz, a protein design researcher at the University of Washington, is interviewed for the Saturday, Dec

Sustainability: News about the rapidly growing climate tech sector and other areas of innovation to protect our planet. SEE MOREUri Shumlak, co-founder of Zap Energy and professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. (Zap Photo)Editor’s note: This is part of a series profiling five of the Seattle region’s “Uncommon Thinkers”: inventors, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs transforming industries and driving positive change in the world. They will be recognized at the GeekWire Gala on Dec. 12. Uncommon Thinkers is presented in partnership with Greater Seattle Partners.When he was growing up in Houston, Uri Shumlak used to pump gas at a local station