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Market Snapshot: Agricultural Decarbonization

The agricultural sector contributes nearly 10 percent of carbon emissions in the United States, which is helping to drive the development of technologies for a cleaner agricultural sector. Technologies of interest include converting biomass into cost-effective, low carbon biofuels and bioproducts, irrigation modernization and opportunities for hydropower, advanced waste reduction and utilization technologies, and soil carbon storage technologies. The need to reduce livestock associated emissions and farm waste are driving government and private funding for new research and technology development to ease carbon emissions. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s budget request includes $24 million for bioenergy solutions for decarbonizing agriculture, $13 million for healthy forest management, sustainable agriculture and biogenic carbon drawdown, and $10 million for organic waste management.  

MarketsandMarkets reports that the Regenerative Agriculture Market was valued at $8.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $16.8 billion by 2027. Regenerative farming is a technique to help increase biodiversity and make the soil more resilient to the effects of climate change. Regenerative farming techniques are also useful in removing carbon from the atmosphere to store it underground. One of the drivers of the market is the increased funding from different organizations and government agencies to lower the carbon footprint from the agricultural industry. However, a lack of knowledge of these regenerative techniques among farmers is a restraint to growth in this market. One of the largest contributors to greenhouse gases from the agricultural sector is cattle. One cow can produce as much as 220 pounds of methane per year. Scientists are working on ways to mitigate this problem by adding seaweed to the cows’ diet to improve digestion and reduce emissions. Frost & Sullivan explores the opportunities for growth in decarbonizing agriculture. The agricultural and food industries are tied closely together, and Frost & Sullivan provides the greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies of stakeholders across the food and beverage value chain. The top 20 players in the market are classified based on their GHG emission reduction targets.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing in climate-smart farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. The $1 billion investment will finance projects that create a market for climate-smart technologies and techniques for the agricultural industry. The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has a Sustainable Agriculture Programs sector that offers competitive grants for sustainable agriculture practices that foster profitable farms that are environmentally sustainable and enhance the farmers’ quality of life and that of their communities. The USDA also funds the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program which provides competitive grants to advance agricultural innovation in promoting techniques for environmental stewardship.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published a progress report on smart agriculture and forestry in May 2021. The report explored feedback originally requested on the efforts to conserve natural resources and address climate change and develops strategies for partnering with landowners, farmers, and Tribes. In August of 2021, USDA also published an action plan for climate adaptation and resilience. The plan outlines how the USDA will provide information, tools, and resources to its partners to address the challenges associated with climate change especially for farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, and resource managers.

Agricultural conferences in 2023 are listed below:

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Fusion Energy Overview

Fusion is a potential energy source and occurs when one or more lighter elements combine to form a heavier element, releasing energy in the process. [1] Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. [2]   A future fusion plant could use the heat produced by the fusion reaction to produce steam to drive turbines or generators that produce electricity. [3] For almost a century, scientists around the globe have been looking to recreate and harness the power of fusion energy. [4]  

Tokamak
Source: ITER

There are two commonly pursued technologies to create and control plasma. Magnetic confinement uses strong magnets to contain plasma. A widely used configuration known as a tokamak[5] uses powerful magnets to confine the plasma within a toroidal reaction vessel, with the magnetic fields keeping the plasma away from the walls of the vessel to prevent damage and unintended cooling of the plasma.[6]  

Examples of U.S. companies developing magnetic confinement systems are Commonwealth Fusion Systems, TAE Technologies, Tokamak Energy, Helion Energy, and Thea Energy. Inertial confinement uses high-power lasers or electrical discharges to compress a small capsule of fusion fuel to extreme temperatures and pressures for a short time. This approach is used, for example, in the National Ignition Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. [7] Examples of U.S. companies developing inertial confinement systems are Xcimer Energy, Focused Energy, ZAP Energy, and Shine Technologies. In addition to these methods, several companies such as General Fusion,  are pursuing various other pathways to try to create and control fusion reactions, including a hybrid of both magnetic and inertial confinement approaches. [8]

Various fusion fuels are used to power these pursued pathways. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, once developed, first-generation fusion plants may likely use a combination of abundant deuterium and lithium as fuel. [9] Deuterium, lithium and tritium Deuterium-tritium is a highly studied fusion fuel and a likely basis for the first fusion power plants.[10] Lithium is a critical resource for fusion because of its material properties. Lithium is used to breed tritium, the key fuel for fusion. [11] The rare lithium-6 form of the metal, which makes up only 7.5 per cent of all naturally occurring lithium, is the most efficient for sustaining the fusion process. [12] Li-6 is banned in the U.S. because of the harmful mercury waste it generates. [13] So most fusion power concepts rely on “enriched” lithium, where the Li-6 content has been boosted. [14]

Several companies are investing in efforts aimed at commercializing fusion energy. [15] Many of these companies are startups that have raised over $100 million in the past few years. [16]  The global fusion energy market size is projected to reach $611.8 billion by 2034, expanding at a CAGR of 5.56% from 2025 to 2034. [17] 

Current State - Projections of the time to putting Fusion Energy on the Grid

As of October 2025, fusion reactors remain pre-commercial, with no system yet producing net energy. Fusion energy stakeholders provide varying timelines as to when fusion energy will become technically feasible as an energy source for the electrical grid and when it will become commercially viable.  Projections range from 10 years to several decades in the future. [18]   Some companies are claiming that they will achieve commercial fusion energy in the next few years[19] while other stakeholders and experts said fusion energy will take more than 20 years. The Fusion Industry Association reported that many commercial companies predict fusion industry will be commercially viable in the 2030’s time frame. [19] 

Source: The Global Fusion Industry in 2025—Fusion Industry Association

Other stakeholders and experts believe fusion energy might put electricity on the grid in 10 to 20 years, however, significant resources are required to do so.[20] The Figure below illustrates commercialization risks that fusion energy will face on the road to commercial deployment. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the aspirational timeline as shown is strongly dependent on the level of both public and private investments. [21]

Commercialization risks for fusion

Source. U.S. Department of Energy, Fusion Energy Strategy 2024

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