{"id":856,"date":"2023-04-19T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/autodesk-foundation\/?p=856"},"modified":"2023-04-17T10:00:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T16:00:49","slug":"our-investment-in-avalanche-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/autodesk-foundation\/2023\/04\/19\/our-investment-in-avalanche-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"Our investment in Avalanche Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/span>\"Avalanche
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Mobilizing carbon-free energy<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In a mid-century world with nearly 10 billion people<\/a> and endless uses for powering our everyday lives\u2014how will we quench our ever-growing thirst for energy?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distributed solar and wind power generation is well on its way to decarbonizing the electric grid in many industrialized parts of the world. In some regions, it\u2019s already cheaper<\/a> on a marginal cost basis to add new renewable energy generation capacity than it is to continue operating existing fossil fuel plants. But there isn\u2019t as clear a solution to meeting the energy demands of sectors that can\u2019t be easily electrified due to their need for either extremely high heat or long-range mobility\u2014or a combination of both. That\u2019s a major problem for significant pockets of the global economy, especially for industries that Autodesk serves, including architecture, engineering, construction, and design and manufacturing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need more sustainable, energy-dense ways to power hard-to-abate sectors<\/a> like shipping, long-haul aviation, trucking, and heavy-duty transportation. Otherwise, nearly a third of global carbon emissions could be left unabated into the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several promising approaches are on the horizon, like clean hydrogen fuel production, but one solution holds a uniquely exciting promise of abundant, near-limitless clean energy: nuclear fusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fusion opportunity<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy is often conflated with nuclear fission\u2014the widely commercially available generation process responsible for 18% of US energy production\u2014which is sometimes criticized for its volatility and potential for irreversible environmental damage. However, the distinction<\/a> between nuclear power derived from fission<\/em> versus fusion <\/em>reaction is significant.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put simply, fusion reactions are what power and sustain all stars, including our Sun. Unlike conventional nuclear fission reactions, which split one atom into two or more atoms, fusion forges two atoms into one\u2014releasing 3 to 4 times more energy but without the risk of meltdown or radioactive byproducts.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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