HB11 Energy receives grant from US Department of Energy to develop clean, safe and unlimited fusion energy

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has awarded a grant to HB11 Energy as part of its ‘Innovation Network for Fusion Energy’ (INFUSE) program with the objective, “to accelerate basic research to develop cost-effective, innovative fusion energy technologies in the private sector.” The program will provide access to world-leading expertise at the University of Rochester, an institutional partner of the National Ignition Facility which recently demonstrated net energy gain from laser fusion. Led by HB11 Energy’s Prof. Thomas Mehlhorn and Prof. Adam Sefkow from the University of Rochester, the research will be… Read More

Australian researcher ignites global movement towards clean, safe and unlimited fusion energy

Last week, Cambridge University Press, in collaboration with Hindawi, published a special issue of thirteen scientific papers advancing the field of hydrogen-boron fusion as a new clean energy source. The editorial headlining the special issue describes the origins of the field as the theoretical physics work by Emeritus Professor Heinrich Hora since the 1970’s at UNSW Sydney and more recently through his company HB11 Energy. This field is now global, with contributions to the special issue coming from 88 researchers, many from the PROBONO project spanning 27 countries. This COST Action was… Read More

HB11 Energy signs Australia-Spain bilateral laser fusion energy agreement, secures federal grant for $1.76M project

Australia’s first laser fusion energy company HB11 Energy has signed a bilateral agreement with the University of Salamanca (USAL) and the Spanish Pulsed Lasers Centre (CLPU), to accelerate laser fusion energy development in Australia and Spain. The agreement will give HB11 Energy access to Spain’s most powerful petawatt-class laser, operated by CLPU, which uses similar technology to the Livermore National Ignition Facility (NIF) where net energy gain was recently achieved. Australia’s Ambassador to Spain Sophia McIntyre attended the signing of the agreement, due to the huge national potential for the bilateral partnership to put both countries at the forefront of the… Read More

US scientists confirm ‘major breakthrough’ in nuclear fusion

This article was published in The Guardian, 14 December 2022: US scientists confirm ‘major breakthrough’ in nuclear fusion Scientists have confirmed a major breakthrough has been made that could pave the way for abundant clean energy in the future after more than half a century of research into nuclear fusion. Researchers at the US National Ignition Facility in California said fusion experiments had released more energy than was pumped in by the lab’s enormous, high-powered lasers, a landmark achievement known as ignition or energy gain. According to Dr Warren McKenzie, founder &… Read More

HB11 Energy creates coalition of global lasertech heavyweights, to establish an Australian sovereign laser industry

Australia’s first laser fusion energy company HB11 Energy has created a coalition of global laser technology heavyweights to kickstart a new Australian laser industry, aiming to develop an ultra high intensity petawatt-class laser facility in this country. This consortium will see Australia pioneer many new areas of technology, including clean fusion energy generation, sovereign advanced manufacturing capability, and Ultrashort & Short Pulse Laser (USPL) education and talent. It will include, among others, engineering multinational Thales Group, Japan’s first-ever laser fusion company EX-Fusion, the University of Adelaide, long-time global leaders in high-energy laser… Read More

HB11 Energy awarded $20M project as part of building the largest recycling and clean energy advanced manufacturing ecosystem in Australia

Australia’s first laser fusion energy company HB11 Energy has been awarded a $20 million project as part of Deakin University’s plans to build “the largest recycling and clean energy advanced manufacturing ecosystem in Australia”. The $20 million project comprises a ~$6 million grant from the $50 million granted to Deakin University through the Federal Government’s Trailblazer Universities Program, plus $14 million in contributions from partners. It will see HB11 Energy work with Deakin’s Recycling and Renewable Energy Commercialisation Hub (REACH) to manufacture hydrogen-boron fusion fuels. Hydrogen-boron reactions could provide large-scale power for… Read More

Former ANSTO CEO Dr. Adi Paterson joins HB11 Energy board to champion petawatt laser cause “equivalent to the moon landing”

Australia’s first laser fusion energy company HB11 Energy has appointed the former CEO of Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Dr. Adi Paterson as a Non-Executive Director (NED). Dr. Paterson is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading figures in nuclear science and technology, and joins as NED following several months already spent alongside the world’s luminary laser and fusion energy experts on HB11 Energy’s scientific advisory board. His appointment will include championing the important findings of HB11 collaborators in a key new scientific paper.  This work emphasises the importance of building petawatt laser research infrastructure in … Read More

Prof. Hora and Dr. Mckenzie named among the nation’s Top 100 Innovators

Honored that our Scientific Director Prof. Heinrich Hora and Managing Director, Dr.Warren McKenzie, have been named by The Australian among the nation’s Top 100 Innovators for our work here at HB11 Energy. As David Swan, Editor of The List, stated: “Amid an increasingly uncertain economic, environmental and geopolitical landscape, these are the future-makers who are hiring the next generation of talent and building the foundations for what our country can – and should – become.” Read The List: Australia’s Top 100 Innovators 2022

HB11 Energy awarded $22m laser project to build sovereign nuclear fusion energy capabilities

Australia’s first laser fusion energy company HB11 Energy will launch a $22 million project to develop the next-generation high-power lasers needed to create a multi-billion dollar nuclear fusion energy industry from Australia, and export this capability to the world. The HB11 Energy project forms part of a $50 million Trailblazer grant awarded to the University of Adelaide and University of New South Wales under the “Defence Trailblazer for Concept to Sovereign Capability” bid. It comprises a $6 million grant and $16 million in contributions from partners. HB11 Energy will assist with the… Read More

World-first: HB11 Energy demonstrates nuclear fusion using a laser

Australia’s first fusion energy company HB11 Energy has demonstrated a world-first ‘material’ number of fusion reactions by a private company, producing ten times more fusion reactions than expected based on earlier experiments at the same facility. HB11 Energy’s world-first results were published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Applied Sciences, and demonstrate non-thermal fusion of hydrogen and boron-11 using high-power lasers. This approach was predicted in the 1970’s at UNSW by Australian theoretical physicist and HB11 Energy co-founder, Professor Heinrich Hora, and differs radically from most other fusion efforts to date that require… Read More