Moonshot Goal 10
Realization of a dynamic society in harmony with the global environment and free from resource constraints, through diverse applications of fusion energy, by 2050

Target

• By 2050, to achieve a social system in which fusion energy is put to use in various situations.
• By 2035, to demonstrate the use of fusion energy as a variety of energy sources, not just electric energy.
• By 2035, to demonstrate the application of fusion energy through not only its use as an energy source but also other uses such as the use of particles produced by fusion reactions or multifaceted uses of elemental technologies.

Note: Fusion energy released when light nuclei (deuterium and tritium) fuse into another nucleus (helium). It is also the energy that makes the sun and stars shine.

Related areas and vision

Area: “Exploring frontiers with science and technology”, “Recovery for global environment and growth of civilization”

Vision: “Measuring, computing, and visualizing unexplored spaces”, “Environmentally neutral cities”, “Significant reduction of resource requirements”

Background to the goal setting

• Fusion energy is the energy released when light nuclei fuse into another nucleus (helium), and it is also the energy that makes the sun and stars shine. The benefits of fusion energy are: carbon neutral, an abundant fuel supply, inherent safety, and environmental protection, and is therefore expected to be a next-generation energy that can simultaneously solve energy problems and global environmental problems.
• In addition, fusion energy will not only serve as the foundation to support Society 5.0, which is proposed as the future society envisioned by Japan, but is a form of science and technology that will enable the sustainable development of humankind on a global scale and that will allow Japan to make a significant contribution to human society.
• Based on the Fusion Energy Innovation Strategy, in order to expand the scope of fusion technology by “

Strengthening original emerging technology support measures such as potentially game-changing miniaturization and high-performance technologies”, as well as a stage-by-stage forecasting approach from the experimental reactor ITER, which is currently under construction, to a DEMO reactor and then to a commercial reactor, it is necessary to strengthen support for challenging research through a backcasting approach from a future society realized by fusion energy.

Moonshot envisioned society

• Contribute to overcoming resource constraints
  　A terrestrial sun¹ will be generated from the abundant resources in the ocean, and conflicts and starvation caused by the imbalance in the distribution of energy resources will be alleviated.
• Contribute to solving energy problems
  　Contribute to Japan’s energy security by utilizing stable and abundant fusion energy.
• Contribute to humankind’s ability to take on challenges
  　Utilize as a small power source, and enable humankind to take on the challenge of exploring unknown areas such as space exploration and ocean exploration.
• Contribute to achieving a decarbonized society
  　Achieve a safe and secure fusion energy system and fundamentally improve carbon emissions in a wide range of industries and households.
• Contribute to solving environmental problems
  　Reverse the vicious cycle that has existed since the Industrial Revolution by producing synthetic fuel from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• Contribute to solving problems through technology
  　Startups produced in Japan will lead the world in solving problems and developing technology.

1 A huge amount of energy (fusion energy) is generated by fusion reactions inside the sun. Fusion energy has been researched as a “technology to create a sun on the ground” with the goal of artificially causing a similar reaction on the ground.