The prospect of using fusion energy on earth has a number of important advantages, which are briefly mentioned here. More details can be found in the sections below.
First of all, fusion as an almost limitless fuel supply. The basic fuels are distributed widely around the globe. Deuterium is abundant and can be extracted easily from sea water. Lithium, from which tritium can be produced, is a readily available light metal in the Earth´s crust.
Fusion produces no greenhouse gas emissions. Fusion power plants will not generate gases such as carbon dioxide that cause global warming and climate change, nor other gases that have damaging effects on the environment.
Fusion is suitable for the large-scale electricity production required for the increasing energy needs of large cities. A single fusion power station can generate electricity for two million households.
Waste from fusion will not be a long-term burden on future generations. Only metal parts close to the fusion plasma will become radioactive. Any radioactive waste generated will be small in volume and the radioactivity will decay over several decades with the possibility of reuse after about 100 years.
No transport of radioactive materials is required in the day-to-day operation of a fusion power station, as the intermediate fuel tritium is produced and consumed within the power plant.
Fusion is inherently safe. Only about two grams of fuel is present in the plasma vessel, enough for a few seconds of burn. As fusion is not a chain reaction, the reaction can never run out of hand.