The Future of Hydrogen-Boron Fusion: An Interview with Eric Lerner

Biography

Eric Lerner has been active in dense plasma focus (DPF) research for 40 years. Beginning in 1984, he developed a detailed quantitative theory of the functioning of DPF. Based on this theory, he proposed that the DPF could achieve high ion and electron energies at high densities, suitable for advanced fuel fusion and space propulsion. Under a series of contracts with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he planned and participated in carrying out experiments that tested and confirmed this theory. In addition, he developed an original model of the role of the quantum magnetic field effect on DPF functioning, showing that this effect could have a large effect on increasing ion temperature and decreasing electron temperature, which would reduce unwanted X-ray cooling of the plasma. Since 2008, he has led LPPFusion’s experimental effort to develop Focus Fusion, the use of hydrogen-boron fuel in the DPF as the fastest route to replace fossil fuels. LPPFusion has achieved the highest ratio of fusion energy out to input energy of any private fusion company. Much of his theoretical work derives from studies of plasmas on astrophysical scales. In this research he is a leader in the development of alternatives to the Big Bang hypothesis in cosmology. He is the author of The Big Bang Never Happened and of numerous peer-reviewed papers on both astrophysics and fusion energy.

 

• Future: You’ve long championed hydrogen-boron fusion as the cleanest and safest path forward. What are the biggest scientific or engineering hurdles that still need to be overcome before it becomes commercially viable?

Mr. Eric Lerner: We need to demonstrate scientifically that, in the lab, we can get more energy from hydrogen-boron fuel in a DPF than the energy put into the machine. That’s the big one, and we are just starting our experiments with this fuel.
Once we do that, we will move into the engineering phase, which is a much bigger project. The main challenge is to perfect a compressed helium cooling system that can keep the temperature of the beryllium electrodes below about 700 C. Second, we’ll need to optimize the conditions in the device once the fuel gets hot enough to dissociate our decaborane fuel into hydrogen and boron. Third, we need to actually build and test the X-ray photoelectric device. It’s built on very well-known principles, but no one has ever built one. Finally, we have to integrate all systems into a generator that can operate repeatably for hundreds of millions of shots, so that maintenance occurs only once a month.

 

• Future: Your team at LPPFusion has achieved the highest confined fusion temperatures ever published. What technical milestones are you aiming to hit in the next 1–3 years?

Mr. Eric Lerner: Again, the key one is net energy production with pB11 fuel. Before we get there, we need to first get measurable fusion with a pB11-hydrogen mix—that’s the breakthrough we are working to get right now. Then we’ll work to get fusion with pure decaborane. Next, we aim for about 100 J of fusion energy for 60 kJ input. This is the maximum we expect with the present configuration of the device. We’ll then upgrade from 8 capacitors to 12 for full power, which we think will allow net energy and the start of the engineering phase.

 

• Future: How have quantum magnetic field effects enhanced energy yield in your fusion experiments, and what might this mean for broader applications in energy?

Mr. Eric Lerner: We have not yet observed this effect, and we don’t expect to directly until we are near net energy.

 

• Future: How does the Dense Plasma Focus approach compare with more traditional fusion designs like tokamaks (e.g., ITER) in terms of cost, timeline, and energy output potential?

Mr. Eric Lerner: The Focus Fusion (DPF plus pB11 fuel) is orders of magnitude cheaper than conventional tokamak plus DT fuel simply because our approach leads to far smaller machines. We project our generators will have about 0.6 tons of mass per MW of output electric power, while, for example, the Commonwealth Fusion plan for ARC would have 35 tons of mass per MW of output. We can be more compact because we don’t have to worry about neutron flux destroying our machine(no neutrons from the main reaction), and we can achieve far higher magnetic fields and plasma density without massive external magnets. Many companies are projecting a generator for the current decade. However, we think our plans are more plausible as we are far closer to net energy than any of our rivals, and the small cost of our device makes rapid progress more economical.

Fusion is far cheaper than solar and wind and is suitable for baseload 24/7 operation.

 

• Future: If funding and resources aligned optimally, how soon could hydrogen-boron fusion be supplying electricity to the grid? Are we talking five years or fifteen?

Mr. Eric Lerner: By the end of this decade—before 2030.

 

• Future: In your view, how will fusion—especially aneutronic fusion like hydrogen-boron—fit into the broader clean energy transition currently dominated by solar, wind, and batteries?

Mr. Eric Lerner: Fusion is far cheaper than solar and wind and is suitable for baseload 24/7 operation. Right now, solar and wind are economical as supplements to fossil and nuclear supplying baseload. But as fusion grows during the 2030s, it will rapidly replace fossil fuels and become the only source for new energy production. By 2040, it can totally replace fossil and all other sources of energy.

 

• Future: Assuming successful prototype development, what would a commercial hydrogen-boron fusion reactor cost compared to current nuclear and renewable energy infrastructure?

Mr. Eric Lerner: We estimate the cost of fusion generators to be around $0.1/W–$500,000 for a 5MW generator. No existing energy source is cheaper than $1/W if we include energy storage costs for solar and wind.

 

• Future: You’ve worked on models for space propulsion using fusion. Could hydrogen-boron fusion revolutionize deep space missions, and how close are we to testing such systems?

Mr. Eric Lerner: Space propulsion is more demanding than electricity generation because of the difficulty in getting rid of waste heat, so it might easily take another decade to develop fusion-based spacecraft. A mission to Mars would only take a month at most. (In my opinion, exploration of the solar system would still be far more efficiently be done robotically, not with manned missions).

 

• Future: You’ve challenged the Big Bang theory and proposed plasma cosmology. Has your cosmological work influenced or inspired any breakthroughs in your energy research, or vice versa?

Mr. Eric Lerner: The discovery by Alfven and his colleague Carl-Gunner Falthammar of the basic role played by filaments of current in the cosmos in the formation of structure from stars up to galaxies laid the basis for understanding filamentation in the plasma focus device. Similarly, my research in the 1980’s using the formation of plasmoid in the DPF as a model for understanding quasars led to the formulation of a quantitative theory of the functioning of the DPF. This theory in turn predicted that the plasma focus could be used for pB11 fusion. We’ve been using and refining that theory ever since.
In addition, I applied the quantum magnetic field effect to our work, showing that it made heating the ions a lot easier. I based my analysis of this effect on other’s research on neutron stars, where the effect it important.
All of this analysis based on plasma at large scales only makes sense in a non-Big Bang universe, although much of the evidence against the Big Bang, such as our surface-brightness work, does not bear directly on fusion.

 

• Future: Looking ahead to 2050, what do you envision as the global energy mix? Do you believe fusion will dominate, or will it complement other renewables and next-gen technologies?

Mr. Eric Lerner: I think that with adequate funding ( and rollout will need hundreds of billions of dollars per year, still a small fraction of the $10 trillion annual cost of fossil fuels) fusion can supply 100% of energy needs by 2045.