TIME

Fusion Energy

Speculative Concept

The interior of a toroidal fusion reactor, a ring of glowing golden plasma inside dark magnet coils, with two engineers on a gantry above.

The FutureFusion Energy

Star power, imagined.

Controlled nuclear fusion could become a practical source of electricity.

In December 2022 a U.S. laboratory reported a fusion experiment that released more energy than the laser energy delivered to the fuel. No fusion plant supplies a grid, and commercial viability is unproven.

A speculative concept with no date, drawn as a dashed line running forward from now.

Era
The Future
Period
Speculative · Undated
Edition
1/1
Status
Not Released
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Background artwork

An original illustration generated for TIME with an AI image model, 2026. It depicts an imagined scene. It is not a photograph of a real place or event, and it is not a prediction.