An LENR-based reactor would cost little more to build than a conventional coal burning plant, require little or nothing in government aid (since the underwriting for Disaster Insurance and evacuation would be non-existent verses a fission nuclear plant, where the government foots the entire bill or such a dangerous thing could never be even be funded), and would take roughly the same time frame to become operational once an engineering design were approved. Even today, with no such design ready to go, an LENR based plant would still likely be operational before a fission nuclear plant that was already under construction was completed and ready to produce electricity (fission nuclear plants take at least 10 years to complete, longer if there are any hitches in the NRC Licensing).
But something LENR cannot do alone, is end the monopolies and corruption regarding energy. It is likely, as we see now with large-scale wind and solar installations, that the same corporations and entities that now burn fossil fuels to produce electricity, will be building LENR plants to use with "their" electrical grids. It is probably up to us, the People, to end their monopolies through installing our own solar PV panels when possible on our homes and small businesses (as the nation of Germany is successfully doing already)... and to insist our government act to help it all happen, instead of hindering it to protect their "client's" profits and monopolies in the energy sector. The more of us that install our own solar PV, the cheaper it becomes for us all to do via the "Economy of Scale", where prices drop to less than a third of when they were manufactured in much smaller quantities. Countries such as Germany, have proven conclusively that modest government incentives to citizens can pay-off big; convincing more and more folks to install their own solar panels and generate their own power, even selling power back to the grid during the day while they are at work. A large solar PV manufacturing and installing industry for millions of good jobs would also be created. So de-centralized solar PV and wind power will still be an important factor, even in a world embracing LENR for centralized energy production. LENR will cover the gaps that solar and wind cannot; such as powering large heavy industries who use gigantic amounts of current. For these large industrial users, centralized power production continues to make sense for most of their needs. Also, it is unlikely that solar or wind can ever be so prevalent that it can handle the large peak loads, such as hot summer days and nights in cities; when air conditioners are running constantly and the utilities often now have to use portable auxiliary Diesel generators to keep up with demand (by the way, these tractor-trailer Diesel generators are common in the industry, and it is strange that such a portable supply could not have been quickly used in Fukushima as a tertiary back up to run the cooling pumps, a prime example of failed safety concerns due to "cost" and "profit" by the energy corporation operators regarding fission nuclear, who clearly should not have such huge responsibility over the planet and people's health). The ability to generate enough solar or wind to power large cities "24/7", where many folks don't own their own homes and live in high-density areas, would be very difficult to achieve. LENR fills that gap cleanly, safely, and cheaply.
As U.S. President Obama recently stated in his 2012 "State of The Union" Address" we need to pursue "All the Above" in alternative energy. Many applauded this. However, we can surely forget about polluting methods such as the humorous and absurd public relations creation of "clean coal" when truly clean, cheap, and safe alternatives exist... even if it means a loss of easy monopoly profit for some who have "had it made in the shade" for the last century. In the early 1900's, no one really cared that the "horse and buggy" industry was greatly curtailed by the advent and huge popularity of the automobile, and they received no government largess or corporate welfare... and they did not have the most powerful political lobby ever seen (perhaps if they did, we would still be riding horses to work). People were glad to see the piles of dung gone from the roads. It is time to end the pollution, the corruption, and the hand-outs to the fossil fuel energy giants... the most profitable, and politically "powerful" entities in history... and to create a world where the energy equation is Positive for us all, not negative for all but a few.
We cannot let either corporate influence/corruption, or the lack of interest of the mainstream scientific community stop LENR research and development from happening as soon as possible. We should work out the academic Theories later, let the theoretical Physicists and Chemists fight it out in the ring while the Engineers move ahead... and stop ignoring the empirical proofs. We need serious funding for more research, for actual engineering work to see these things realized. Not "ten years from now" (the same old broken political promises we have heard for over 40 years regarding any form of Alternative Energy that happens to threaten entrenched monopolies): But now, this year, since we know the truth and it can no longer be denied: M.I.T., NASA, DARPA, and a hundred laboratories around the planet have shown us this Truth.
It is time to look into the "Telescope"... even if it means changing some text books and college curriculum notes, and breaking some highly profitable monopolies. The cost of not doing so when we realize a superior alternative exists and is ready to go, is too terrible to contemplate.
The time for denial has ended; the plausible excuses are gone. The time for action is here.
Links of Interest on LENR
M.I.T. symposium publicly demonstrates deuterium-palladium lattice based LANL / LENR with "x10 Energy Gain" on Jan 31, 2012 , performed by JET Energy (apparently a spin out from MIT) with Professors Hagelstein and Swartz presiding.
http://world.std.com/~mica/cft.html
Info on Dr. Peter L. Hagelstein of M.I.T. who co-hosted the above
http://www.rle.mit.edu/rleonline/People/PeterL.Hagelstein.html
Rossi "Ecat" method of Nickel-Hydrogen LENR first public demonstration at University of Bologna January 2011 (there were 2 more subsequent public demonstrations, all claimed successful).
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-italian-scientists-cold-fusion-video.html
The CBS "Sixty Minutes" program segment "Cold Fusion Is Hot Again", first aired in 2009 , when the U.S. government first publicly admitted LENR is "real". Since then, nothing has significantly changed with funding for this important subject. Why is that?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/17/60minutes/main4952167.shtml
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