HB11 Energy

🇦🇺 Sydney, AU · Founded 2017 · Active

HB11 Energy is an Australian fusion company headquartered in Sydney. It is pursuing laser fusion of hydrogen and boron-11 (proton–boron fusion), a reaction that produces three helium nuclei and whose fuel is not radioactive, though it is far harder to ignite than deuterium–tritium fuel. Its scheme, which it calls proton fast ignition, uses two laser pulses: one lasting nanoseconds to compress a fuel pellet and one lasting picoseconds to accelerate protons that ignite it. Its power plant concept would burn about one pellet per second and generate electricity with a conventional steam cycle. The IAEA's 2022 survey lists its device as a planned laser fusion experiment to show the economic advantage of proton–boron fusion.