Status of Magnetic-Containment Fusion

PhysicsWeb has an interesting article about the status of research on the magnetic-confinement approach to nuclear fusion. It is exciting to see that the "penultimate step" along the way toward an electricity-producing reactor is now being built. Although the experts claim that we might see electrical power generated from one of these things within our lifetime (by 2035 or so), I suspect that the schedule will stretch out, as it always seems to do for large projects.

Even if we were to run out of oil and natural gas, and even if commercial or nationalized-utility fusion power plants don't come on line in a major way until, say, 2100, that would still allow civilization to continue, as we should have enough coal and fissile nuclear fuel to keep electricity flowing for a couple hundred years from now, with or without fusion. The sooner fusion comes, though, the better. If natural gas becomes too expensive, then we'll have to convert many power plants back to coal, and I doubt that the government will be able to force those plants to keep nasty emissions from coal burning as low as they are now from natural-gas burning.

What do you all think about the future of energy?