AI is igniting the path to clean energy

AI is igniting the path to clean energy

Whether it’s harnessing AI to power a fusion future or driving sustainable innovations in materials science, PPPL is at the forefront of turning big ideas into world-changing solutions. In a thought-provoking opinion piece in The Washington Post, Lab Director Steven Cowley discusses the science and engineering challenges that remain on the path to bring fusion to the electrical grid and how AI is accelerating progress.?

On a parallel front, Emily Carter , the associate laboratory director for Applied Materials and Sustainability Sciences and senior strategic advisor for sustainability science at PPPL and the Gerhard R. Andlinger '52 Professor in Energy and the Environment and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, highlights how researchers can tackle climate change, energy transition and more in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.


Cool Findings

A graphic illustration of a gray microwave with a glowing orange sphere inside, with a shadowed toaster with bread slices popping up behind it.
An artist's metaphoric depiction of a fusion plasma in a microwave, with a toaster in the background. (Illustration credit: Kyle Palmer / PPPL Communications Department)

Heating for fusion: Why toast plasma when you can microwave it!

Can plasma be sufficiently heated inside a tokamak using only microwaves? New research suggests it can. Eliminating the central ohmic heating coil normally used in tokamaks will free up much-needed space for a more compact, efficient spherical tokamak.

Quenching the intense heat of a fusion plasma with a cave of liquid lithium

New fusion simulations of the inside of a tokamak reveal the ideal spot for a “cave” with flowing liquid lithium is near the bottom by the center stack, as the evaporating metal particles should land in just the right spot to dissipate excess heat from the plasma.

Bubbling, frothing and sloshing: Long-hypothesized plasma instabilities finally observed

Scientists have used a new imaging technique using protons to make the first observations of an instability created when plasma expands into a magnetic field. This fundamental physics finding could give a clue about the causes of large jets of plasma that extend in outer space for millions of miles.


Fast Physics

What does liquid metal have to do with fusion?

Fusion reactors need to heat plasmas to temperatures as hot as the sun — more than 100 million degrees Celsius. Components that directly face the plasma, such as the inner wall of a doughnut-shaped tokamak reactor, can suffer from erosion and melting. Francisco Sáenz , a graduate student in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at 美国普林斯顿大学 , shares how liquid metal can draw away excess heat to protect the reactor.


Journal Articles

A collection of journal articles with first authors from PPPL published in August 2024.

The Astrophysical Journal

2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion (SPEEDAM)

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Nuclear Fusion

Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion

Review of Scientific Instruments


PPPL is mastering the art of using plasma — the fourth state of matter — to solve some of the world's toughest science and technology challenges. Nestled on Princeton University’s Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, New Jersey, our research ignites innovation in a range of applications including fusion energy, nanoscale fabrication, quantum materials and devices, and sustainability science. The University manages the Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which is the nation’s single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Feel the heat at energy.gov/science and pppl.gov.

Christopher M. Collins

Corporate Founder - Denali Fusion Solutions LLC, CEO & Head of R&D

5 个月

I should mention that AI wasn't used when coming up with our solution or developing the technology that utilizes said solution to produce electricity.

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Christopher M. Collins

Corporate Founder - Denali Fusion Solutions LLC, CEO & Head of R&D

5 个月

Microwaving plasma to induce Fusion is not a workable solution and is frankly too energy consuming to see any breakeven point. Basically it's a fool's method being passed off as " it'll work... " . Denali Fusion Solutions LLC in Alaska has a workable solution to making sustainable Fusion possible and part of the method is Intake, Compress, Ignite, Exhaust. The same general way that an 4 stroke internal combustion engine works but is constant instead of using moving, reciprocating parts does so in a continuous cyclical feedback loop with plasma as the only major moving part involved. Prove we don't.?

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Romi Mahajan

Chief Executive, Chief Marketing Officer, Science-Commercializer, PropTech Advisor, and Strategist, Author, Investor

5 个月
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Dvorah Graeser

Proud sponsor of AUTM | Industry & Company Insights to Close Deals Fast | ?? to Master AI Before Your Competition Does

5 个月

Amazing post on your advanced physics research Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)! AI may be eating all of our energy (8% of US electricity consumption will be devoted to data centers by 2030) but your research could help close this energy deficit by using AI - which is great!

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