May 19, 2023
Microsoft is decreasing its carbon footprint significantly by working with Helion Energy, a nuclear energy firm, and investing in helium-3 fusion power facilities. Microsoft will acquire 50 megawatts of electricity from Helion’s fusion power plant, which is expected to be operational by 2028 and will provide enough energy to power around 40,000 households.
Microsoft believes that Fusion, a natural process that occurs in celestial bodies such as the sun and stars, is the sought answer to the global energy dilemma owing to its potential for nearly endless power generation while not adding to greenhouse gas emissions. When light gases, mostly hydrogen, are exposed to high temperatures, they fuse to form heavier atoms like helium, releasing a massive amount of energy in the process.
Helion’s fusion power facilities are very modest in comparison to standard pressurized water reactors capable of producing gigatonnes of electricity. Their intended output of 50 megawatts is sufficient to power a large data center complex.
Helion is also confident about its seventh-generation prototype, which is projected to create modest quantities of electricity over the next 18 months. The company’s novel fusion technology entails injecting deuterium and helium-3 gas into a cylinder-shaped machine and heating the gas to produce charged plasma on both sides. The plasmas are then accelerated and compressed by electromagnetic fields until they meet, causing a fusion process.
The sources for this piece include an article in TheRegister.
