German Sstart-Up, aims to generate unlimited Clean Fusion Energy with Lasers, the way the Sun and Stars makes Energy.
Marvel Fusion, which has raised $65.9 million, 60 million euros, since its founding in 2019, is pursuing an Innovative approach that uses Lasers. The current Funding round is to test out Marvel Fusion's theoretical Model, but it will need to raise billions of dollars to Build a Prototype.
Nuclear Fusion, if it can be recreated on Earth, has the potential to provide nearly Limitless Rnergy with Zero Carbon Emissions, and unlike Nuclear Fission, which powers Nuclear Plants today, Fusion does Not leave behind long-lasting Radioactive Nuclear Waste.
The Technology has been seemingly just out of reach for Decades now, but the Reward is so high that billions of dollars are still flowing into the space. On Wednesday, the White House unveiled a Vision for spurring Fusion investment, noting that Commercial Fusion "has the potential to revolutionize the energy industry."
Marvel Fusion, founded in 2019, is One of the many Start-Ups taking a bet on Ccommercializing Fusion. The German Company is pursuing an Innovative approach using Lasers instead of Magnets, and has so far raised €60 million or $65.9 million, including a €35 million or $38.5 million, round in February led by Earlybird Venture Capital.
It's still years, and billions of dollars, away from even building a Prototype, but the Company is Testing the idea using Computer Models, and believes its approach will be more efficient than competing efforts.
There are Two "religions" in the landscape of Fusion Start-Ups, Edward Morse, a Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, are Magnetic Confinement and Inertial Confinement:
- Magnetic Confinement - Often uses a Tokamak, a round donut-shaped piece of Machinery with very Strong Magnets, to hold the Plasma Intact so the Fusion Reaction can occur. It's the more battle-tested variety, with a number of Start-Ups and an International Collaborative effort, in France, all pursuing it.
- Inertial Fusion - Confinement Fusion is when the Fuel is Compressed so intensely and so quickly, that it reaches the Conditions necessary for Fusion. In practice, Lasers are used to Compress the Fuel.
"The Tokamak concept based on magnetic confinement is the most advanced fusion device," Sehila M. Gonzalez de Vicente, a Nuclear Fusion Physicist, at the International Atomic Energy Agency. "Nevertheless, laser-based concepts also represent a promising approach," she said.
Marvel Fusion is Not the only Start-Up in the Field working with Lasers: HB11, EX-Fusion, and Focused Energy, are among the others, according to Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association.
In August, 2021, Scientists took a significant step forward in Laser Fusion Science, at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. In what a Lead Scientist there called a "Wright Brothers moment" for the Industry, a Laser Light was focused onto a target the size of a BB, generating tremendous amounts of Energy.
Marvel's Approach - Marvel's approach is slightly different. The NIF is pursuing Indirect Laser Fusion, which uses a Hollow Cavity or "Hohlraum", to convert Laser Energy into a bath of X-Rays that shoot into the surface of a Capsule holding the Fuel source. In Direct Drive Laser Fusion, there is No Hollow Cavity, instead the Lasers go directly into the Fuel Capsule.
The Marvel Fusion Executive Team:. Moritz von der Linden, a Co-Founder & CEO at Marvel Fusion; Heike Freund is the Chief Operating Officer; and Georg Korn is the Lead Scientist and Chief Technology Officer.
Linden says that Direct Drive is more Efficient. "We need considerably less energy to ignite and burn our fuel than comparable thermonuclear models that rely on high temperatures," he said. Before starting Marvel, Linden spent 20 years in Finance and Technology. In his previous work, Linden collaborated with a Physicist to do Due-Diligence on another Fusion Company, and the Two determined the Start-Up they were assessing was Not Feasible. But that Investigation inspired Linden and Karl-Georg Schlesinger to Co-Found Marvel Fusion.
Marvel Fusion also plans to use Hydrogen-Boron 11 as the Fuel source, which results in even less Waste than the Deuterium-Tritium Fuel used in more Convention Fusion Reactions. In the Primary Reaction, Helium nuclei will be the Only by-product. In 0.1% of all the Reactions, a "tiny number" of Fast Neutrons, which are responsible for the Radioactive Waste are produced, but this is Not enough to produce any long-lived Radioactive Waste, Marvel Fusion said. HB11, another Fusion Start-Up, is also pursuing this approach.
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