What Fusion Energy Can Learn From Biotechnology

45 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2024 Last revised: 25 Oct 2024

See all articles by Andrew W. Lo

Andrew W. Lo

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Laboratory for Financial Engineering

Dennis Whyte

MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering

Date Written: February 27, 2024

Abstract

Fusion energy is currently facing many of the same opportunities and challenges as the biotechnology industry of the 1970s: exciting scientific and engineering breakthroughs that could change the course of human history, with sufficient public and private funding, more effective business models, and appropriate regulatory oversight. A number of lessons can be learned from the last 50 years of biotechnology industry history, which lead to five proposed initiatives for accelerating progress in fusion: the creation of a university intellectual-property consortium; the standardization of fusion energy milestones along with fusion rating agencies to certify their achievement; the development of new financing and business models to fund the various stages of fusion progress; a coordinated plan for two-sided outreach, education, and engagement at all levels from K–12 to policymakers and the general public; and managing fusion initiatives as part of a broader ecosystem. Applying these historical lessons today can accelerate the development of fusion towards the same level of commercial success and human impact that biotech has achieved.

Keywords: fusion energy; sustainability; megafund; biotechnology;

JEL Classification: Q4,O3, L26, G11

Suggested Citation

Lo, Andrew W. and Whyte, Dennis, What Fusion Energy Can Learn From Biotechnology (February 27, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4779516 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4779516

Andrew W. Lo (Contact Author)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Laboratory for Financial Engineering ( email )

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Dennis Whyte

MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering

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