Making fusion work is a very complicated task, which has only been achieved in very short bursts in laboratories. We are a long way away from having commercially available fusion reactors that can produce all the energy we need.

 

The ITER fusion project is the latest EU project to try to move the technology forward. If the project is successful, it is hoped that it will spawn small commercial reactors, that may be able to deliver electrical energy in 40-50 years.

 

However, the risk remain that we humans do not have the technology to build a fusion reactor that can continuously generate energy reliably. The main obstacle is the temperatures required to make fusion take place. More than 100 million Celsius is required at the core of the reactor before atoms can be forced together and their energy released.