Taiwan’s technology council said on Wednesday it plans to invest more in key research on fusion energy as well as maximize efforts with regard to international collaboration.
The US energy department said on Tuesday that a major national laboratory in California successfully produced 3.15 megajoules of energy during a recent nuclear fusion experiment. That is 150% more than the energy used by lasers to initiate the reaction. The US lab’s success is an important step in the pursuit of limitless, clean energy.
The council says fusion energy generation is still an experimental technology and has a long way to go before it can be applied in power plants. It also says the ways to properly handle radioactive waste require further research. The council adds that harnessing fusion energy is one of the keys to reaching global carbon emission goals.
The council says Taiwan has plans to advance fusion energy research. It says this will require talent in fields like laser engineering, data analysis, and more, as well as international collaboration.