Eni and MIT together for fusion power
Looking to the stars for clean, sustainable, and limitless energy.
Bringing the Sun into our homes
Bringing the sun into our homes is without a doubt one of the greatest challenges for humankind. Fusion occurs in the Sun when two hydrogen atoms, or two hydrogen isotopes, come so close together that their nuclei fuse together. The result is a helium atom, while a part of the mass of the hydrogen atoms is converted into energy. That process has fascinated researchers for years, because if it could be harnessed, it would deliver virtually unlimited and extremely clean energy. Replicating fusion on earth requires the use of hydrogen isotopes, because their nuclei contain the smallest positively charged particles. Therefore, it involves hydrogen, with its single proton nucleus, deuterium, which has a neutron and a proton in its nucleus, and tritium, where two neutrons are associated with a proton. Although these may be the smallest elements of the Universe, at extremely high temperatures and densities, which enable the atoms to overcome the electrostatic repulsion that their positive charge creates, they fuse together and release energy. Fusion is the primary energy powering the entire Universe – the energy produced by the Sun and other stars. And it is the energy of the future. Virtually limitless, fusion power is environmentally and economically sustainable because it produces no polluting emissions. Moreover, deuterium is abundant on Earth in our seas and oceans. It is believed that a deuterium powered fusion reactor is able to produce the same amount of energy from a cubic meter of sea water that burning two thousand barrels of crude oil produces.
In the fusion adventure, we can make an enormous contribution to MIT and we believe that the collaborative research system will expand to other entities as well. We have made a deal with the National Research Council (CNR) and we are considering agreements with other national and international research institutes to work together on this large-scale project that will arguably resolve future energy problems.
Giuseppe Tannoia, director of research and technological innovation at Eni
Combining expertise for clean energy
Fusion is a sophisticated technology, which needs a great deal of the specialised knowledge present in our company, such as the physics of materials and the development of technologically-advanced plants. One of Eni's first goals is to create a team with these strong core of skills which is able to develop these challenging technologies to a very tight timescale. We are collaborating with various centers of expertise in Italy, including most recently the National Research Council (CNR). Francesca Ferrazza, Knowledge Management System Vice President di Eni and Massimiliano Pieri, Vice President for co-operation with MIT talk about this technology.
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Eni and MIT together for decarbonisation
Decarbonisation has always been the central focus of the partnership between Eni and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – and fusion power is part of that goal. An agreement between Eni and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), an MIT spin-out, has enabled Eni to acquire an equity stake in CFS for the development of the first commercial fusion reactor to produce energy on a continuous basis for the power grid. A challenge that Eni intends to pursue with a partner of excellence that is MIT, building on its lengthy experience in fusion power.
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