June 27th, 2011
10:47 AM ET

Can one idea be energy's holy grail?

Michel Laberge quit his job to invent a "glorified jackhammer" that he hoped would save the planet. That was 10 years ago.

Now, investors are betting more than $30 million on that jackhammer idea, which may yield a holy grail of energy - a safe, clean and unlimited power source called hot fusion.

Laberge is trying to do something that no one has ever done: create a controlled "net gain" fusion reaction that creates more energy than is required to produce it. It's the same process that powers our sun. If it works, it could solve huge problems like climate change, the energy crunch and reliance on foreign oil.

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Filed under: On Earth
soundoff (3 Responses)
  1. MannyHM

    There's no need to wait and wait for fusion to produce the energy we need. There's enough geothermal energy already to produce electricity as well as for shallow ones for heating and cooling !

    July 26, 2011 at 2:24 pm |
  2. j0eschm0e

    climate change is everything to do with the suns cycle. so lay off the global warming c r ap. 2011 is said to be solar maximum. so from here on for the next decade, things will cool off a little.

    July 26, 2011 at 3:02 am |
  3. goober

    I can't believe you people are still pushing "climate change" as something that needs fixing. The climate changes every day every year. Open your eyes and grow up!

    July 25, 2011 at 7:51 pm |

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