Now is the time for the US to move aggressively towards the deployment of fusion energy, which could substantially power modern society while mitigating climate change, a group of fusion scientists and researchers says in a report.

The 80-page report, written by the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee, says the US should build a fusion pilot plant by the 2040s. It charts a path for the US as it seeks to develop nuclear fusion as a virtually limitless source of carbon-free energy.

In addition to the call for a pilot plant in the 2040s, the committee recommends experimental facilities to better understand plasma science and technology. Fusion energy and plasmas are inextricably linked, with a fusion reactor requiring a “burning plasma” that is confined and controlled at its core.