The heat wave that left many in the Bay Area sweltering for more than a week, with temperatures in some communities topping 111 degrees, is now blanketing the East Coast and spawning potentially dangerous heat alerts impacting millions of people.
Hotter temperatures and higher electricity bills are fueling massive investment around the world, including in California, toward a technology that could provide an endless, cheap supply of energy – nuclear fusion.
In a report released Wednesday, the Fusion Industry Association noted a surge of investments for companies hoping to transform fusion into a viable energy source that could ultimately replace traditional fossil fuels like oil and gas. The fusion industry has so far received $7.1 billion in investments, about $900 million of which poured in over the past 12 months.
The report also revealed a continued spike in the number of employees within the fusion industry, noting 43 companies with a current workforce of more than 4,000 people -- a 270 percent increase from 2021.
Earlier this year, the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit toured the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where government scientists have proved harnessing nuclear fusion is possible after successfully igniting five fusion reactions over the past two years.
While impressive, the work largely still stands as a proof of concept since even the most successful reaction only lasted less than one billionth of a second and barely produced enough energy to warm up two pots of coffee.
The Fusion Industry Association surveyed about 40 of the world's largest nuclear fusion companies and found roughly 90 percent anticipate fusion becoming a viable energy source sometime in the 2030s.
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