Economic benefits from early development of fusion
- Univ. of Missouri, Rolla
Scenarios of energy growth developed by Federal agencies and private industry place commercial generation of fusion power in the post-2000 era. The model used here estimates the potential direct economic benefits that would accrue if the development of fusion power were accelerated so that commercial generation would be achieved at some earlier date. The model is limited to electrical power generation for three resons: (1) simplicity, (2) the electrical end-use category of the energy economy is large (about 30 percent) and growing, and (3) the use of electricity requires no further adaptation on the part of the user. The evidence presented shows that in all cases of expected introductionnn of fusion and energy demand, the present value of the benefit of accelerating the introductio of fusion power is substantial. These benefits are large even when compared to the estimates of the total cost of the fusion reactor development program, which are on the order of $20 billion. The conclusion can be supported that the large economic benefit inherent in accelerating development of fusion technology warrants immediate development of a model similar to that presented in this report so as to determine the optimum funding rate for accelerating the development of fusion reactor technology. It is economically wasteful to pursue such a program at less than an optimum rate.
- OSTI ID:
- 6383829
- Journal Information:
- Growth and Change; (United States), Vol. 9:4, Issue 4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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