Techarean Zero: building a better future
From left: Linda Nylund (moderator), Johannes Boson (Managing Director of Svea Solar), suchPer Bolund (formerMinister for the Environment and Climate), Bryndis Kjartansdottir (Icelandic Ambassador to Sweden) and Peter Roos(CEO of Novatron Fusion Group). Photo: Novatron.
On March 23, 2023, we really felt that together we can make a difference. The event was the brilliantly organized Techarenan Zero, which brings together Swedish thought leaders, experts, politicians and entrepreneurs to discuss ideas on how to create a more sustainable planet. As one of the main sponsors, Novatron Fusion Group took an active part.
After the event, we sat down with Peter Roos, CEO of Novatron Fusion Group, to hear his impressions from a very busy day.
◼️ Peter, you’ve just spent an hour in a live panel debate with the Icelandic Ambassador and Sweden’s former Minister for the Environment and Climate. What are your main thoughts?
It’s clear to me that access to clean, reliable and sustainable energy is not only something people talk about to give an impression of being environmentally conscious, it is indeed a topic of relevance regardless of country, entity or role. Not only are politicians and industry well aware of the need to replace energy sources emitting greenhouse gases, butthey are also brutally informed about the geopolitical aspect of access to energy being used in cynical ways.
Peter Roos talks about the state of fusion energy and how we need to accelerate our efforts to get this promising energy source working. Photo: Camilla Svensk.
◼️ Novatron works in a very complicated field - fusion energy. Do you believe you were able to adequately explain what fusion energy is and why it’s so important in a future clean energy mix?
Even though the physics behind producing fusion power is complicated, it is still quite easy to explain it by allegory. After all, fusion is the original source of all other energy sources, regardless if you’re referring to wind, solar, nuclear or anything else.
Creating fusion is like starting a fire. You need the initial ignition, and after that, you need to continue adding more pieces of wood, or the fire will die out. The wood pieces in fusion are hydrogen, the smallest atoms you can find. To make the atoms fuse together, you need a high temperature, a high enough density of ionized atoms (plasma) and, which is the trickiest part, a long enough energy confinement time.
At Novatron, we have found a way to address the last part - a way to create a stabilized plasma confinement. Essentially, it’s a completely new design for fusion reactors.
◼️ Humanity’s move to decarbonize energy is gaining speed, but we are also expected to use twice as much energy in 2050. What do you think is the best approach to solve this problem?
We believe we need to join forces with all known technologies that have the potential to supply energy without emitting greenhouse gases. Let’s continue on the path where the world is scaling up solar and wind power and developing more cost-efficient and safer fission nuclear technology.
But we will also need to work with longer-term solutions as the need for even more clean energy in the form of electricity will continue to grow. Here, fusion would be the ultimate solution. It’s clean, reliable, sustainable, abundant and cost-efficient, and without the risks or hazards that you might associate with other sources of energy.
◼️ After spending a day talking with all these interesting people, what’s next on the agenda for Novatron as a company?
We are inspired by the fact that energy and climate are at the top of the agenda of more or less every country. We have already been overwhelmingly welcomed in so many different places and situations, and so we are encouraged to continue our work with even more enthusiasm.
The interest from investors has been tremendous, so we are quite certain that funding will not be the main issue in this phase. We are establishing valuable collaborations with relevant universities around the world, initiating technology and knowledge transfer with other fusion initiatives, and we have constructive dialogues with authorities and government representatives on how to set the framework around a new, emerging fusion industry.
The design work and assembly of the first NOVATRON at KTH, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, continues. By the end of 2023, we will see the first version of this new, groundbreaking fusion concept!
◼️ Thank you for your time, Peter!