Let’s get creative.

There must be many ways to fund fusion.  We haven’t explored them all.

Big government, foreign government, local government, VC’s, long tail, consumer products, charity… what are we overlooking?

Not talking about Focus Fusion Society, the nonprofit here.  That has different revenue streams:  member donations, foundations, etc.  This is about fusion research funding.  Anyone have a link to a delineation of the usual and unusual sources of funding for bold tech ventures?

Rezwan - 10 September 2010 06:15 PM

Not talking about Focus Fusion Society, the nonprofit here.  That has different revenue streams:  member donations, foundations, etc.  This is about fusion research funding.  Anyone have a link to a delineation of the usual and unusual sources of funding for bold tech ventures?

In the unusual category, you’d be educating tomorrow’s entrepreneurs so that they build at least one fortune that helps fusion with funding and possibly engineering & technology. This is the backup scenario which assumes that today’s sources don’t pan out.

Cut a secret $10-100M deal with a big utility to give them confidential 1 mo. advance notice of likely definitive achievement of unity or definitive proof it can’t be done.  Give them a strategical leg up on the market!

Brian H - 12 September 2010 06:44 AM

Cut a secret $10-100M deal with a big utility to give them confidential 1 mo. advance notice of likely definitive achievement of unity or definitive proof it can’t be done.  Give them a strategical leg up on the market!

More likely the utility ensnares you with a truly massive set of insider trading violations and the resultant furor buries the actual fusion results…

Condo developers will frequently pre-sell a bunch of units, before breaking ground on a subdivision. Of course, they don’t have to invent construction methods and materials; and the units they’re selling are pretty-well known to work exactly as specified. How far away from ability to do this is focus fusion? Not that far, really.

But there is engineering work, to do. Capture the imagination of masters and phd students, causing demand for academic courses on the science and engineering of the reactor core as well as ancillary technologies of power capture, conversion and storage. Teach those courses, giving students the drive to advance the state of the art in these areas.

Make and sell spin-off technology?

Propose a strategic alliance to Dick Weir of EEStor (http://www.theeestory.com/)

As long as the DPF units are using deuterium and producing neutrons, can they be used to make radioisotopes for sale?  Go to page 461 of the Congressional Budget Request

Francisl - 25 November 2010 06:34 AM

As long as the DPF units are using deuterium and producing neutrons, can they be used to make radioisotopes for sale?  Go to page 461 of the Congressional Budget Request

i thought most (all?) medical radioisotopes are fission products?

vansig - 25 November 2010 09:14 PM

Francisl - 25 November 2010 06:34 AM

As long as the DPF units are using deuterium and producing neutrons, can they be used to make radioisotopes for sale?  Go to page 461 of the Congressional Budget Request

i thought most (all?) medical radioisotopes are fission products?

Here is the Wikipedia link to the production of radioisotopes

Here are some possible federal grants that LPPX could apply for:

NSF/DOE Partnership in Basic Plasma Science and Engineering

U. S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center - 2010 Broad Agency Announcement

Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Innovative Systems for Military Missions

Research Interests of the US Air Force Academy

Franscisi;
Yes, those are all research-oriented.  But I suspect they are all subject to the same policy and priority constraints.