The Future: Energy Super Abundance
Energy is arguably the single most important resource ever in the history of humankind. From powering the first electric bulb in the Earth's remotest corners to powering the most advanced Mars Rover on an alien planet, human civilization has been built on top of our ability to generate and extract energy. The rate at which civilizations exponentially progress, however, depends on “Energy Super Abundance” - a state where Energy is readily available in abundant quantities to meet the demands of society, both now and in the future, without significant economic or environmental constraints. However, we are currently an “Energy-Deficit” civilisation.
The Rise in Global Energy Demand
Our rapidly growing population and consumption, alongside the advent of AI, advanced computing, and urbanization, have driven an exponential rise in global energy demand. Over the past few decades, our global energy demand has surged dramatically, soaring from 100,000 TWh in the 1980s to nearly double at 200,000 TWh by 2024.
Climate Change - No Longer a Future Problem
Unfortunately, humanity remains dangerously dependent on fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas to meet our energy needs. These sources, while vital to current energy supply, are harmful to the environment, leaving a heavy carbon footprint. Carbon emissions have nearly doubled, rising from 18 billion tons in the 1980s to nearly 36 billion tons in 2024.
This significant increase coupled with the inability of renewable sources (wind, solar, fission, and hydro) to meet necessary scale underscores the urgent need to transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources to mitigate environmental impact and combat climate change.
And there’s only one way to do it - Nuclear Fusion (as depicted below).
Nuclear Fusion - Limitless Clean Energy
Humankind has been generating power through Nuclear Fission for decades now. Fission is when you split a larger atom (Like Uranium) into several smaller atoms, releasing high energy in the form of heat. Fusion is the opposite of fission - you combine two smaller atoms to form a larger atom, and in the process, release energy that is exponentially higher than fission. So why not make energy with Fusion?
Well, the most common form of fusion reaction occurs in stars, including our sun. While the prospect of fusion energy has long tantalized scientists since the 1950s, our pursuit of achieving fusion has been hindered by limitations in computational power, high capital expenditure (CAPEX) costs, shortage of specialized talent, general lack of data and understanding of the underlying science, and engineering limitations. Consequently, fusion has perpetually been “20 years away,” as the saying goes in the industry.
Until NOW.
Why Fusion Now?
Access to high-performance supercomputing has made theoretically studying fusion much faster over time. This translates to quicker feedback for experimental cycles, and by virtue, faster development of fusion technologies. Moreover, several technological advancements in superconductors and high-powered lasers have only added to the cause significantly as indicated by the exponential increase in what is known as the “Triple Product” of Fusion over time.
The triple product (enabled by engineering advancements) indicates the conditions needed - like the plasma temperature, density, and confinement time - to get enough particles to collide with enough energy and stay together long enough to produce continuous fusion reactions, much like the conditions inside the sun. For successful and sustained fusion, these three factors must meet a specific combined value (above the green line as indicated in the graph below).
The watershed moment for Fusion happened in 2022 when the “The National Ignition Facility” at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US successfully demonstrated Fusion Ignition (generating more energy output than input) for the first time in history, crossing the green line of Triple Product. Since then, the race to fusion has significantly heated up with over 40+ private companies and 8.5 Bn USD in capital inflow split between Venture Capital (2.5 Bn)& Government (6 Bn) to commercialize the technology.
New Fusion Frontier: Inertial Confinement Using High Energy Lasers
There are several different approaches to achieving fusion, each differentiated by the underlying scientific principles but united by a common goal - to heat, compress, and contain plasma long enough for fusion to occur. Historically, we’ve leaned on Magnetic Confinement - using magnetic fields to contain and accelerate the plasma in a superconducting chamber (Tokamaks, Stellarators) - to accomplish Fusion. However, these systems are incredibly complex to build and expensive to operate/experiment with. Hence, research and development in fusion has always been a government endeavor limited to very few countries - the USA, Russia, China, and the EU. This meant limited experimental data that was difficult to access and isolated/slower development.
However, Gérard Mourou’s Nobel-winning breakthrough in 2018 paved the way for the development of high-energy petawatt lasers capable of delivering a significant amount of energy in pulses without damaging the amplifying medium. This allowed the scientists at NIF to use Petawatt lasers as a method of compressing, heating, and confining plasma to successfully generate fusion at a significantly lesser cost, complexity, and other resources, thereby opening up a new frontier.
Anubal Fusion - Inertial Confinement Fusion
Anubal Fusion aims to leverage the inertial confinement approach, using high-energy lasers to heat up fuel pellets (proton-boron) and achieve fusion, thereby generating abundant energy for the world.
Anubal Fusion - India’s Best Team Working on Commercializing Fusion
The world’s top fusion teams share a few essential traits: they are deeply technical, grounded in academic and research excellence, and bring together talent that spans all scientific pillars of fusion, all while integrating sharp business acumen.
Dr Pravin Kini is a trailblazing deep-tech entrepreneur whose ventures have consistently pushed the boundaries of complex science in markets with vast potential and limited competition. He first made his mark by founding Bourn Hall Clinic India, extending the legacy of the world’s first IVF clinic established by Nobel laureate Bob Edwards in the UK. Building on this success, Pravin co-founded Tropical Animal Genetics, pioneering advancements in bovine embryo production and sex-sorted semen technology, followed by QNu Labs, which focuses on quantum key distribution to enhance cybersecurity. His guiding principle of merging scientific complexity with expansive market opportunities is now the foundation for Anubal Fusion.
Combined with the scientific expertise from TIFR Hyderabad and IIT Madras on its team, Anubal Fusion not only possesses the best scientific and technological expertise in lasers and plasma in the country but also the techno-commercial acumen necessary to achieve commercial-scale fusion.
The Path Ahead
Fusion is a long, and expensive endeavor. Unlike most deeptech ventures where engineering is the key challenge, de-risking in Fusion needs to happen across both science and engineering in parallel. Therefore, finding ways to commercialize the interim technologies like the simulation software and Petawatt laser systems will not just allow for more time (runway), but also for crucial scientific data and validation. Anubal Fusion plans to leverage these avenues as they go about realizing commercial scale fusion.
India’s Fusion Champion
India is no stranger to meaningful collaboration with the world on global scientific programs and has been a strong contributor to ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), a $30 billion global fusion project in France with both talent and resources, both scientific and monetary.
Nuclear Fusion is, without question, the ultimate pinnacle of DeepTechnologies with the potential to exponentially alter the course of humanity once and for all. While the world doubles down on private fusion in a bid for infinite energy, we are proud to champion India’s First Fusion Company in Anubal Fusion.
We are beyond excited for the future!
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