Sep 3, 2026 · 49 min
Advanced energy races to meet data-center demand
MacroVoices #548 Dr. Carly Anderson: Emerging Energy Technologies Roundup
Electricity demand is rising faster than infrastructure can be built, putting deployment speed, manufacturing scale, and fuel supply at the center of the energy transition.
- 1Advanced fission may reach early markets faster by targeting repeatable designs, factory production, and customers such as defense and data centers.
- 2Fusion’s promise depends on solving its fuel cycle, especially tritium breeding, while competing with fission on cost and deployment speed.
- 3The opportunity extends beyond reactors to silicon carbide, geothermal drilling, industrial robotics, turbines, transformers, and critical-material supply chains.
Don't miss
Anderson argues that fusion’s fuel advantage is conditional: commercial systems must breed enough tritium to close the fuel cycle.
The brief
Carly Anderson frames the energy challenge around hyperscalers, data centers, and industrial expansion: electricity demand is growing, but new supply remains slow to build.
Advanced nuclear could move faster through repeatable designs and factory production, but Anderson distinguishes manufacturing components from achieving true mass production.
The fusion debate turns on economics and timing: high power density is promising, yet tritium costs make a closed fuel cycle and breeding blankets essential.
The technology stack widens beyond reactors to supercritical carbon dioxide systems, silicon carbide, enhanced geothermal energy, rare-earth processing, and advanced power equipment.
Anderson’s broader investment thesis includes industrial robotics for logistics, manufacturing, mobility, and hazardous environments—machines designed for work people cannot safely do.
What was said on this episode
25 statements · 20 positive · 1 mixed · 4 neutral
Microreactors will have some operational units by 2028 or 2029.
“we're both excited about microreactors and having some operational in 2028, maybe 2029”
Listen at 23:18
Most new U.S. nuclear reactors will come online in the early-to-mid 2030s.
“most of the new nuclear reactors, at least in the U.S., aren't going to come online until the early to mid 2030s”
Listen at 23:25
Fusion power plants will become operational in the early 2030s.
“that's when we are going to see fusion power plants operational”
Listen at 24:04
Fusion component technologies have become substantially cheaper and better.
“a lot of the component technologies have gotten much cheaper and much better”
Listen at 24:22
Magnetic systems can confine star-like fusion plasmas on Earth.
“you can confine a star on Earth with magnets”
Listen at 24:31
High-temperature superconducting magnets can greatly reduce fusion-device size.
“makes your fusion device go from something the size of a football stadium down to something the size of, like, maybe a normal residential house, maybe even smaller”
Listen at 24:55
Commonwealth Fusion Systems is among the world’s leading fusion companies.
“Commonwealth Fusion Systems is one of the leading, like, fusion companies in the world”
Listen at 25:05
Modern laser technologies can provide laser energy at very low cost per watt.
“you can get laser energy. for an incredibly low dollars per watt value”
Listen at 25:42
Fusion and nuclear-plant design simulations can run in hours or less.
“You can run those simulations in hours today, maybe less”
Listen at 26:03
Fusion power plants will begin appearing in the mid-2030s.
“we'll start seeing fusion power plants in the mid-2030s”
Listen at 26:34
Fusion is expected to cost less than advanced fission.
“I expect it to cost less”
Listen at 27:10
Hydrogen fuel eliminates much of fusion’s uranium-cycle and storage cost.
“you take out your entire uranium mining conversion enrichment and then decommissioning storage. Like so much of that goes away when your fuel is hydrogen”
Listen at 27:12
Fusion reactors can achieve high power density.
“you can get a high power density out of the fusion reactors”
Listen at 27:32
Data-center electricity demand is expected to double by 2030.
“meet the data center demand doubling between now and 2030”
Listen at 35:28
Virtual power plants can reduce peak electricity load by flexibly switching demand.
“Can you create these virtual power plants that can turn on and off just like a real power plant effectively to reduce the peak load? That's another area that's super interesting.”
Listen at 37:41
More geothermal projects will come online.
“Geothermal, we're going to see a lot more geothermal activity coming online”
Listen at 37:54
Improved simulation and design tools make deep tech investable.
“this is what now makes deep tech an investable sector”
Listen at 38:23
Quaze is developing technologies for cost-effective deep geothermal drilling.
“Quaze is a very interesting company that is working on technologies to do that”
Listen at 40:36
Geothermal deployment requires drilling through rock quickly and cost-effectively.
“you have to drill through the rock quickly, cost effectively”
Listen at 40:51
Geothermal systems need sufficient heat-source surface area for adequate heat extraction.
“you have to create enough surface area with your heat source to get enough heat out fast enough”
Listen at 40:54
Geothermal projects require sufficiently large underground volumes of accessible heat.
“you have to find an area Then there's a volume question, right? Where is there enough heat in like this, you know, I don't know, mile square chunk underground where all that heat can come off your pipe.”
Listen at 41:02
Geothermal power density must increase to reach five-to-seven-cent kilowatt-hour costs.
“needs to go up quite a bit I think for the for these things to get to your five to seven cents per kilowatt hour cost target”
Listen at 41:28
Deep-tech technologies need to reach market quickly to make meaningful impact.
“You need to be able to get technologies to market fast”
Listen at 46:58
Tools for building hardware companies have improved substantially.
“The tools to build companies have gotten extraordinarily better”
Listen at 47:13
Hardware entrepreneurship currently has an unprecedented level of engineering talent.
“we've never seen the level of engineers in hardware. that are building companies right now”
Listen at 47:30
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.