American industry is preparing for the advent of laser fusion. Will Canada?

A future in which Canada’s energy supply relies more on fusion power and less on carbon-based energy was presented to a senate sub-committee two weeks ago, but it’s still unclear whether Canada has the will, the money and the vision to participate in fusion energy discoveries.

Allan Offenberger, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, and Perry Kinkaide of the Alberta Council of Technologies gave a presentation on the validity of the science behind fusion power and the potential economic benefits.

The U.S. is participating in many fusion projects around the world, first and foremost the quest for fusion ignition at National Ignition Facility near San Francisco. The E.U., along with Korea, China, India and Russia, is building the ITER facility for magnetic fusion research. China is also said to be pursuing its own fusion research as it seeks independence from foreign sources of energy.

Canada, despite struggling with high energy costs and environmental problems caused by carbon emissions, has no official fusion program and only limited expertise scattered throughout its universities.

Being left out of the science of fusion could have dire consequences. Offenberger, a retired computer and electrical engineering professor, said that the spin-off science and engineering industries related to fusion science have the potential to create new businesses in the areas or lasers, photonics, materials and coatings.

But he warns if Canada does not begin to participate now, we could become purchasers of the technologies instead of suppliers.

Robert Fedosejevs, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Alberta, agrees. He has been conducting laser experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco. He said the time for Canadian companies to get involved in fusion energy opportunities and technologies is now.

“We are not even in the game as players, but it is hard for the companies to see that,” he said.

While not directly involved with the National Ignition Facility, Fedosejevs is working toward refining the efficiency of medium-sized lasers for another fusion technique called shock ignition.

Fedosejevs, Offenberger and Kinkaide had tried to get the federal government and the government of Alberta interested in 2008 with their group, the Alberta/Canada Fusion Energy Program, but were unable to raise any government funding amid the recession.

While several high profile energy and utilities companies in Alberta have continued to monitor experiments at Lawrence Livermore—a contingent recently visited NIF—there is no formal Canadian mandate on how to capture these scientific and commercial opportunities.

Michael Dunne, director for laser fusion energy at NIF, said future power plants can be located in commercial or urban communities, and the excess heat and steam generated from the plant can be used to heat buildings or to process chemicals. But one of the biggest attractions for Alberta in particular is that fusion power offers a cheap and clean source of heat and steam for the extraction of bitumen for the oil sands industry.

One member of the Canadian utilities industry who visited NIF was TransAlta’s William Bridge, executive VP of business development. Bridge said that once proven, fusion will be a disruptive energy source for the whole world—but the time horizon puts the technology too far away for industry to make serious plans and investments. He said that natural gas plants that are coming online now will eventually age and need to be retired in the 2030-2050 timeframe. Replacing them with laser fusion plants could be an option.

“I wouldn’t be surprised at the back end of this decade if we are seriously giving it some consideration about how to bring a (fusion energy) unit like that into a market like Alberta. But that’s still ten years away. For the general public it’s interesting, but not relevant. For our industry, though, it’s a natural part of our planning timeframe,” he said.

Earlier this year, Kinkaide lamented that Canada has done a poor job of recognizing future opportunities and preparing itself to meet future technologic challenges.

“This is exactly the type of technology (The Alberta Council of Technologies) looks for. We’re of the belief that we need to be ready for the convergence of technologies and be well aware of how rapidly new technologies are entering into industry and into society. We don’t have the institutional structures of the 21st century to accommodate and anticipate emerging technologies.”

The cost of the National Ignition Facility in California was US$3.5 billion and has an annual budget of about US$350 million. Moreover, its scientific foundations have been largely built upon the strategic defence work at the Lawrence Livermore labs, whose funding probably totalled into the hundreds of billions of dollars since the end of the Second World War.

Kinkaide said it’s unrealistic for Canada and Alberta to mount it own fusion program, but planning now could mean manufacturing and engineering jobs in Alberta for the new industry. He was heartened that the Senate wanted to hear about the long-term future of energy in Alberta as opposed to what Alberta is doing with the oilsands.

At this moment, representatives from American power companies are on the advisory boards at NIF, but Canada is formally absent. He said Canada’s attitude could change dramatically if ignition experiments at NIF are successful in proving that huge net gains of energy are possible.

Kinkaide added that the world is going to need all the energy sources it can get, and a new source of power will be welcome.

“When ignition is achieved, it is going to be an extraordinary moment.”