It won’t free us from the maniacal grip of the lunatics in the Middle East. PC Liberals will make sure Muslims get a big cut or total control. The alternative, that Arabs pound sand and have nothing to sell but rugs, is unthinkable.
Not gonna happen that way. This technology is too simple and too straightforward to be monopolized by anyone.
That includes your own friendly tyrannical government.
People are building these large vacuum tubes in their basements. Without a nuclear signature until it's actually fusing, it's hard to shut down backyard research.
One of the things we forget is that in the search for a "break-even" point, we're looking for something that outputs more energy than it takes in.
How about being willing to settle for something that produces one heck of a lot of heat for a modest investment in electricity and contraptioneering?
Most of the energy we consume at my compound is heat, usually from electricity. I'd sure like to have a tame fusion polywell water heater doing that job for me.