As optimistic as I am about recent developments, there is no practical path for fusion to be a path forward for replacing our energy consumption. Fusion will likely supplement the technologies that we instill to replace carbon-based energy, but will not itself be part of the replacement of carbon-based energy.
Well it's hard to say right now. It is hard to believe we could have working commercial fusion plants in 2035, but I do think it is possible. If the USA continues to drag our feet on switching to carbon neutral energy, that may unfortunately line up with our timeline. Especially if these fusion power plants are actually simpler to build than fission plants. Unfortunately it is very hard to plan for something that is unproven. But if we spend the next ten years going hard on renewables, we will then have an idea if CFS is going to succeed.
We could build out fission power plants, but if the Vogtle power plant in georgia is an indication of how fission build outs will go, it will be extremely expensive and take a very long time.
> Especially if these fusion power plants are actually simpler to build than fission plants.
That really is the only hope. Even if the plant itself costs more money to build, the reduced regulation and ability to build almost everything on-site may greatly simplify the process.
