Fusion had long thought to be the “holy grail” of energy considering its potential to provide limitless, clean, and cheap energy. But one large hurdles that scientists need to overcome is the issue of ignition. As stated in the article by International Business Times “Nuclear Fusion In Our Time? Scientists Outline Hurdles To Potentially Transformative Energy“:

For decades, scientists have struggled to reach “ignition,” the point at which the fusion reaction starts producing more energy than the power put into it. Turns out it’s difficult to heat something to 100 million degrees! In stars, fusion occurs thanks to the intense pressures of gravity; here on Earth, scientists have to find a different approach. In a recent paper appearing in the journal Physics of Plasmas, the staff from the National Ignition Facility at the U.S. government’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reports on their progress toward the ignition point using high-powered laser beams.

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