Fusion energy for a sustainable future

For decades, scientists have been researching the possibility of harnessing the processes of solar energy production on Earth. Nuclear fusion - the fusion of light hydrogen nuclei to form helium - holds enormous potential as an almost inexhaustible, safe and climate-friendly source of energy. However, its technical implementation represents one of the greatest challenges of modern physics and engineering.
The lecture will provide an overview of the current status of fusion research and the next steps on the way to a commercial fusion power plant. The focus will be on the remaining physical and technological hurdles and the progress made by large-scale experiments such as Wendelstein 7-X in Greifswald. This facility, one of the world’s leading fusion research projects, demonstrates the possibilities and limits of stellarator technology. The lecture places these developments in the broader context of the global energy transition and discusses the question of whether and when fusion can make a sustainable contribution to the energy supply of the future.

Thomas Klinger, born in Eutin in 1965, studied physics at the University of Kiel. After a research stay in France, he received his doctorate in 1994 with a thesis on gas discharge physics. After guest stays at the Alfvén Laboratory in Stockholm, at the Center de Physique Théorique in Marseille and at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Garching, he completed his habilitation in 1998 with a thesis on “Control of plasma instabilities”. Shortly afterwards he was appointed Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Greifswald, where he headed the Institute of Physics as Managing Director from 2000 to 2001. Since April 2001 he has been a scientific member of the Max Planck Society and director at the Greifswald Institute for Plasma Physics, where he heads the “Stellarator Dynamics and Transport” department. In April 2002 he was appointed to a chair in experimental plasma physics at the University of Greifswald and has been head of the “Wendelstein 7-X” company since 2005. Thomas Klinger was active in numerous German and international scientific committees, including as a member of the DFG expert committee and as a member of the plasma physics board of the European Physical Society.

Moderation: Dr. Hasmik Hunanyan