Department of Agriculture

[kandrathe]

Fusion receives more public funding than any other energy source.

Um... I must take issue with that statement.

Google Fu

In the US over the five year period(2002-2008) of the study,
Renewable = $29 Billion, with 50% going to subsidize corn based ethanol
Fossil Fuels Subsidies = $72 Billion

For Fusion research, according to http://fire.pppl.gov/ ~$300/year over the same 5 year period is $1.5 billion.

"As I write this, ITER, a fusion facility that will cost more than $10 billion, is being built by an international consortium—the European Union, Japan, Russia, the US, South Korea, China, and India—in Cadarache, France. The device is scheduled to begin operation by 2019, and scientists plan to demonstrate 500 million watts of fusion power for several minutes' duration a decade later." -- Physics Today, "How long is the fuse on fusion?", August 14, 2012, By H. Frederick Dylla

It seems the plan, based on the current meager international funding, is to have a 500MW demonstration reactor ready by 2029. Who knows what might be possible if we diverted 1/2 of the oil subsidies into fusion research?