Fusion, requiring hydrogen.
Where’s the hydrogen coming from and how is it going to be produced?
Exactly! I actually like this research. I see good uses for it. But the "problem" with energy today is political, not physical. In this case, the greenies of tomorrow would claim "oh my! We're using up all our hydrogen!" just as loudly as they claimed we were using up all our oil or whatever.
Our energy policies need political breakthroughs more than science breakthroughs.
The two most common methods for producing hydrogen are steam-methane reforming and electrolysis (splitting water with electricity.
There is virtually limitless hydrogen in seawater, and the energy required to separate it is dwarfed by the energy available from fusion.
It requires 142 MJ of energy to produce one kilogram of hydrogen by electrolysis. Fusion of one kilogram of hydrogen into helium releases 164,000,000,000 MJ, a little more than a billion times more.
For an investment of 30 kWh, roughly the average daily consumption per household in the U.S., would yield 36 billion kWh, enough energy to provide electricity to every home in America for more than week.
From water. E = MC2