I applaud the progress of ITER

Maria van der Hoeven: In the future, electricity will become an increasingly important fuel in the residential sector as developing countries switch away from less efficient sources of heating and cooking (such as traditional biomass) and as demand for electrical appliances continues to rise. Currently electricity accounts for about 20 percent of residential energy consumption, but we project that it will rise to 30 percent by 2035. The increasing electrification of our economies will raise new questions about introducing and deploying new technologies, the development and integration of power grids (and increasingly "smart" grids), efficient electricity storage, electricity security in general, and much more. However it will also create more flexibility in terms of energy input fuels and open more of the economy to power-generating technologies, including (potentially) fusion.

 

To achieve energy security, economic growth and environmental protection, the IEA has encouraged and supported international collaborative research, development and deployment (RDD&D) across the mix of energy technologies since its founding. The IEA thus supports Member governments, non-Member participants and industrial partners to share resources and multiply results.
The IEA Fusion Power Co-ordinating Committee (FPCC) provides a platform for stakeholders to share results of fusion activities worldwide. The ITER project, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Commission (EURATOM), the International Tokamaks Physics Activity (ITPA), and the Nuclear Energy Agency (experiments database) are among these participants.

The FPCC also oversees the activities of eight fusion Implementing Agreements, or international collaborative working groups, that examine specific policy and technical aspects of fusion power including:

Our two organizations are also linked by individuals. Three participants from the IEA fusion community have been named to leadership positions for ITER. They include the ITER Director-General Osamu Motojima, the ITER Deputy Director-General Rich Hawryluk, and the Chair of the ITER Council Hideyuki Takatsu.
I personally look forward to increasing the contacts between our organizations, and hope to make a working visit myself to Cadarache in the coming year.

I am pleased to see that the ITER Project has indeed advanced and that steps have been taken recently to address budgetary and management issues. Since taking up my role as Executive Director at the IEA, my priorities have been to establish a strategic vision and implementation plan for this energy agency. Working to leverage the IEA's assets to bolster its impact worldwide—while delivering high quality to Member governments within stringent resource constraints—has been at the heart of my task. I therefore understand the challenges that ITER faces, and I applaud its progress.

The IEA actively supports clean technology deployment through analysis and reporting such as our flagship Energy Technology Perspectives publications, our input to the Clean Energy Ministerial, and other work. We also support the spread of information via the Energy Technology Network and the International Low-Carbon Energy Technology Platform. These products and platforms can help to raise awareness among both policy makers and stakeholders.

Based on IEA projections, our future energy needs will be substantial. Therefore we must continue to support research and development today in order to benefit from new technologies to meet those needs. While fusion technology is not at the deployment stage, the possible contributions of its successful development toward our policy goals are huge. Low-carbon, low risk generation technologies based on abundant resources would be major achievements for our societies. Fusion has the potential—but so far only the potential—to be a game-changer.
Those messages should be clearly communicated to politicians and the public.

Nuclear fusion holds the promise of virtually inexhaustible, safe and emission-free energy. However the successful deployment of this technology still remains a long-term objective which will require sustained research and development efforts. Although significant work is ongoing in this area, IEA projections do not count on fusion reactors becoming available on a commercial basis within the time horizon considered in our World Energy Outlook.