Start-up financed by Honda plans mini nuclear fusion generators to recharge EV cars
A nuclear fusion startup, backed by Honda Motor, plans to use mini fusion power generation plants as charging stations for electric vehicles, signaling that development of this long-hyped power source is accelerating , as reported by Nikkei Asia .
The Israeli startup will produce demonstration plants by 2029 and aims to commercialize them in 2030. An extremely short time compared to other nuclear fusion projects.
The fusion energy generation plants will have a power of between 10,000 and 20,000 kilowatts, i.e. between 10 and 20 mW. Each of them will have dimensions that can be inserted into a cargo container, so that they can be easily installed even in remote areas far from the electricity grid. Princeton University in the United States is collaborating and the Israeli government is also providing financial support.
Container with theoretical internal NT-TAO system
Nuclear fusion aims to artificially reproduce the same reactions that occur inside the sun. It does not emit greenhouse gases. In 2022, a US national laboratory succeeded for the first time in extracting more energy than it put into its fusion reactor.
Honda, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and others have invested in NT-Tao, which has raised $28 million so far. Honda is considering using fusion power generation for electric vehicle charging stations, and NT-Tao's facilities would allow 1,000 vehicles to be charged simultaneously. Other ideas include installing mini-electrical stations in data centers and factories.
NT-Tao also plans to use its system for maritime mobility and to provide energy in the event of nuclear disasters.
According to NT-Tao CEO Oded Gour-Lavie, the estimated investment for a 20,000 kilowatt power generation plant would be between $70 and $100 million. Generation costs are estimated at between 6 and 13 cents per kilowatt hour, a fraction of what nuclear energy generated by fission currently costs, which is double to quadruple depending on the country considered.
Electric vehicles do not emit greenhouse gases when they operate. On the other hand, it is difficult to provide a stable supply of electricity using only solar and wind energy which is dependent on weather conditions. So everything is perfect, but there's just one problem: NT-Tao doesn't give much indication of how it wants to achieve nuclear fusion: it only talks about a technology they developed capable of raising the temperature and density of the plasma by up to 1000 times , but it doesn't explain how this works.
So just trust that it's true.
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The article Start-up financed by Honda plans mini nuclear fusion generators to recharge EV cars comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/start-up-finanziata-da-honda-prevede-mini-generatori-a-fusione-nucleare-per-ricaricare-le-autoev/ on Sun, 14 Jan 2024 17:03:57 +0000.