Speaker: Dr. Phil Larochelle, Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Title: Frontiers of Skepticism in Fusion Energy, and What to do About Them
Abstract: Breakthrough Energy Ventures were among the first investors into Commonwealth Fusion Systems, XCimer Energy, Type One Energy and Pacific Fusion as well as investors into Zap Energy and a partner with Marathon Fusion from the Breakthrough Energy Fellows Program. In this talk we share lessons learned from over 7+ years into the journey of helping to commercialize fusion energy and the opportunities and challenges in the road ahead.
Bio: Phil Larochelle is a Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Prior to joining BEV, Phil was a Senior Technical Program Manager at Google X working on several early-stage energy technology projects, and before that, as an Associate on the Google Energy and Renewable Energy Investment Teams. He was a Fellow working at the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E), the Senior Energy Analyst at The Alliance for Climate Protection, and an Alternative Power and Energy Storage Analyst at Lux Research.
Phil holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University, and an MBA and B.Sc. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.