California legislation breaks new ground on fusion energy generation policy
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Governor Newsom signed AB 1172 into law on Oct. 7, 2023, which specifically integrates fusion-based energy into the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission's Joint Agency Report.
Existing law requires the Commission to adopt an integrated energy policy report every two years where analysis-based recommendations and energy forecasts are issued by the state.
AB 1172 creates an additional requirement to include fusion power in the 2027 integrated energy policy report separate from fission energy generation.
“Controlled thermonuclear fusion is one of the very few long-term, environmentally friendly and inherently safe options,” stated the International Atomic Energy Agency in a report from September of this year. “In principle, fusion could generate four times more energy per kilogram of fuel than fission and nearly four million times more energy than burning oil and coal.”
The distinction between fission energy, an energy source requiring the splitting of larger atoms into lighter elements, and fusion energy, energy generated from combining atoms to create heavier elements, makes California the first state in the nation to enshrine the difference into law detail TAE Technologies in a press release about the new law.
“California must continue to invest in clean, renewable sources of energy to meet our climate goals," said Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, author of AB 1172. "There has been significant progress from the fusion industry, with companies now on the path to creating commercially viable systems that can safely generate clean energy for cities. This law will help California safely integrate fusion energy technology as a renewable energy source.”
Southern California-based TAE Technologies is the first private company to pursue commercial fusion energy and is a global leader in the development of aneutronic fusion, an advanced form of fusion reaction that does not create neutrons in its primary reaction and does not create radioactive waste as well as creates longer-life devices that result in lower energy prices for producers and consumers.
“Last year, I had the privilege of joining a delegation of state and federal legislators for a tour of TAE’s facilities to learn more about the world-class, innovative research and development on sustainable fusion and spin-off technologies underway right here in Orange County," said State Senator Josh Newman, who introduced AB 1172 in the state's upper chamber. "The progress and promise of TAE’s work on commercial fusion is in line with California’s stature as a global leader in research and innovation and offers tremendous promise, not only for California’s future clean energy prospects but for the creation of thousands of vital, high-skilled jobs as well.”
TAE Technologies' pioneering aneutronic fusion relies on a hydrogen-boron (or proton boron) fuel that is currently slated to enter the marketplace in the early 2030s and just recently broke ground on a 10,000 square-foot facility in Irvine, California.
