Elsewhere in the world, Cold Fusion science is in better shape. Italy, Japan, Israel and Greece are the world leaders. China is rumored to have a major Cold Fusion program. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are pursuing the pot of gold, isolated and in secret, defying the heavy hand of the US government.
State of the Art
Cold fusion uses as its fuel "heavy water', which is non-radioactive and can be refined from ordinary sea water. A half glass of heavy water costs about $50 currently, and it contains enough energy (after conversion to electricity) to supply the average American with electricity for a lifetime. Some versions of the process require the element palladium as a catalyst, which does not get used up, but represents an expensive initial outlay. The commercial versions use nickel instead, because it is plentiful and cheap and works almost as well.
The onset of Cold Fusion is dramatic and unmistakable when it occurs. Much more heat is released than any conceivable chemical process could generate. The heat can be used for industrial processes , space heating or hot water, or it can be converted to electricity. The remaining problems concern reliability and control. Whatever it is that makes it work, the Cold Fusion process seems to have a mind of its own, and decides when to turn itself on and off. Companies that seem closest to a resolution of these problems were not in attendance at this week's meeting -- they're holding their cards close to their chests, hoping to be first to enter a huge and lucrative market. A Greek company is licensing its technology, looking for manufacturing partners throughout Europe and Asia. An Italian company claims to have a million orders in hand, and rumor has it that the first units have already been delivered to the U.S. Dept of Defense.
I predict something dramatic is going to happen, and a lot of politicians and bureaucrats will have egg on their faces. They will claim that they were simply surprised, that they could not have seen this coming. "We are working as hard as we can to re-assert America's leadership in the energy field.'
It may happen this year.
For those of us whose eyes are open to the enormity of the earth's man-made ills, we have been pushing ahead on blind faith for decades. Gaia is in the throes of full ecosystem collapse, on a time-scale unknown in its 4 billion year history. Mankind is getting his act together, with advancing democracy (the US may be an exception), with spreading sustainable technologies, with micro-miniaturization, with expanding respect for human rights and biodiversity (especially outside the US). But none of this is happening nearly fast enough to save our planet from an inconceivable holocaust. Cold fusion could give us the extra decades that we need to bring these revolutions to frution. Cold fusion could turn our faith into a tangible hope for Mother Earth.
Further reading
Infinite Energy magazine http://www.infinite-energy.com/
E-Cat blog http://www.e-catworld.com/
Defkalion Energy, a Greek company that claims to be close to commercialization http://www.defkalion-energy.com/
Library of scientific papers http://lenr-canr.org/
Forbes article http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml
Sixty Minutes segment (2009) http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4955212n/
Hour-long introduction and history from Stanford Research Inst http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtweR_qGHEc
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