The MIT Energy Initiative’s (MITEI) 2024 report, The role of fusion energy in a decarbonized electricity system, was adapted by its authors for inclusion in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) publication about the evolving global fusion landscape, World Fusion Outlook 2025, which was published this week.
The MITEI report, completed in collaboration with the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, was the culmination of a year-and-a-half study that serves as a fact-based, analysis-driven examination of the factors likely to shape the deployment and utilization of fusion energy. Authors of the MITEI report include Robert C. Armstrong, former director of MITEI and professor of chemical engineering, emeritus; Dennis G. Whyte, the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, Nuclear Science and Engineering, at MIT; Sergey Paltsev, senior research scientist at MITEI and deputy director of the Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy; and Randall Field, former executive director of MITEI’s Future Energy Systems Center and now MITEI’s director of research.
“The fusion energy landscape continues to develop at an extraordinary pace. What was once confined to experimental research and long-term aspirations is now rapidly becoming a cornerstone of national energy strategies and industrial planning. Countries are formulating dedicated fusion policies, companies are selecting sites and designing the first generation of power plants, and regulatory bodies are beginning to issue tailored guidance. … This convergence of scientific progress, commercial interest and policy attention marks a decisive shift: Fusion energy is entering a new phase of real-world implementation,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi wrote in his foreword for World Fusion Outlook 2025.