Posted on 01/09/2014 3:45:46 PM PST by Kevmo
The Peak Oil Crisis: Cold Fusion Moves East January 7, 2014 5:44 PM 23 Comments By Tom Whipple
Many of us believe that life on this planet is in a lot of trouble. The climate is becoming unstable; there are too many people; oceans are dying, sea levels are rising; and water, food, clean air, and minerals are coming into short supply. For many, the economy refuses to grow fast enough to maintain living standards.
Although appreciated by only a handful, the evidence continues to build that, unless we have reached some kind of a tipping point, there may be a way out of our mounting problems. A few minutes’ reflection should be enough to convince most that a source of unlimited clean, cheap energy just could reverse global warming, provide unlimited water, food, and a better life for all.
While there may be sources of clean cheap energy that as yet we have no idea exist in this universe, for the present, cold fusion or the preferred term Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) looks like the only solution currently extant with the potential to save us. It may not be a stretch to say that either we develop and put into widespread use this technology or it is “game over” for life as we know it.
For the last 25 years, the U.S. government, at the urging of its scientific advisors who unfortunately had, and in some cases still have, axes to grind on the LENR issue, has been denying that the “cold fusion;” or LENR phenomenon, actually exists. According to the government, the anomalous heat that so many have been reporting on since 1989 is only experimental errors or scientific fraud or even wishful thinking. When the U.S. government says there is no such thing as “cold fusion” then naturally most other governments and the mainstream media with minor exceptions say the same.
This position may be changing however. While a few scientists at NASA have been saying that the LENR phenomenon is real for some time, the Department of Energy which reigns supreme in these matters remains pretty firm in its denial despite occasional reviews. Recently, however, we may have seen the beginnings of change when a component of DOE which funds exotic energy R&D efforts said it would entertain proposals to fund LENR experiments. Now this may simply be a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, but it would be nice to believe that at least somewhere in DOE, a few are coming to their senses,
So where are we on this revolutionary and likely disruptive technology? There are dozens of independent laboratories around the world experimenting with low energy nuclear reactions at the lab bench scale, but only three or four saying, and in some cases demonstrating, that they have devices producing enough energy that commercially useful products should be available soon.
Readers of this column know by now that there is a small but devoted blogosphere out there in cyberspace that not only fervently believes that cold fusion is real and someday will save humanity, but follows and comments on developments daily.
For several years, interest has focused on the Italian inventor Andrea Rossi and his E-Cat nuclear device, which many still consider a scam despite numerous validations. Nearly a year ago, Rossi told his cyber space followers that he had partnered with a well-healed American firm that was helping him develop a commercial product. Until last week Rossi’s American partner was a well-kept secret with speculation focusing on industrial giants such as GE or United Technologies who have much to gain if LENR ever becomes a commercial product replacing combustion of fossil fuels as the principal source of heat in the world.
Last week a hint leaked out when one of Rossi’s associates noted in his biography that he was consulting for an obscure hedge fund called Cherokee Investment Partners LLC, located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The blogosphere jumped on this clue and within days enough information about Cherokee and its new subsidiary, Industrial Heat LLC, was brought to light to conclude that this organization is indeed Rossi’s new American partner in the development of LENR. Cherokee, which has a capitalization of circa $2 billion and has invested $11.5 in the E-Cat project, has a record of investing in cleaning up polluted properties and funding renewable energy projects.
The most interesting feature of last week’s revelations was that the CEO of Cherokee seems to have relationships with Chinese firms, and recently signed an agreement to setup some sort of facility in China’s Baoding Industrial Development Zone which specializes in developing new forms of energy such as wind and solar. Although Thomas Darden, Cherokee’s CEO, will say nothing about the agreement; he acknowledges talking about Industrial Heat LLC with the Chinese. In discussing the meeting in China, a Chinese web leaves little doubt that nickel-based LENR was discussed and that representatives of the highest levels of Chinese government planning attended the meeting.
Perhaps of even more interest than the Rossi-Cherokee-China disclosure was the announcement by Brillouin Energy, who claim to have the best understanding of the LENR phenomenon, that they have signed a multimillion dollar licensing agreement with an unidentified South Korean firm. Under the agreement, Brillouin would give the Koreans the plans for its “hot tube” steam generating boiler which has been under development at SRI’s labs in California. The deal would allow the Koreans to engineer and build prototypes of Brillouin’s boiler which is intended to provide steam for electricity generation. Brillouin hopes a prototype will be functioning before the end of the year.
If the Chinese and South Koreans latch onto LENR, it will make little difference what the US government, nay-saying physicists, or fossil fuel lobbyists and their friends in the Congress say about the technology — it will come.
Only cranks have ever claimed to see neutrons from Pons-Fleischman type experiments.
***The open source MFMP project saw gamma rays and it was replicated within 48 hours. That means anyone with the means can build a setup, follow their recipe, and see gammas resulting from Nickel & Hydrogen reacting.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3101544/posts?page=53
“The Wright brothers were surpassed in a matter of a few short years, once everyone knew it was possible. There’s gonna be huge patent wars, and the Chinese will steal it all.”
If any of this cold fusion twaddle were true, we’d already be buying Chinese cold fusion devices in Home Depot.
Gamma rays are not neutrons. The fact that you don’t even understand physics at so basic a level is no surprise.
Neutrons were the proof that it was nuclear. So are transmutations. You would declare a wide swath of research, including some of it from organizations like Toyota & Mitsubishi, to be cranks.
Feel free, using your advanced physics degrees, how gamma rays arise from hydrogen and nickel reacting with each other and yet it’s still a chemical reaction. Remember to keep your answer at a “basic level” because you’re so obviously so much smarter than the average FReeper.
Thus attempting to shift the focus away
How can pointing something out be an attempt to shift away? Do you even understand logic?
The government certainly DOES expect practical results from the projects it funds.
Your response is a logical fallacy that has been known since the Greeks. The fact that the government expects results for some projects that it funds, does not imply that it expects results for every project. A result which, sadly for your "argument" you demolish yourself in the next paragraph by agreeing that the government actually doesn't require results across the board.
The fundamental difference between the money spent of real fusion research and on hoax fusion is that real fusion researchers have milestones that they propose to the government. These are testable against a theory. Hoax fusion "researchers" have no such milestones, and no such theory. Some of them are even selling "reactors" to people which they cannot even explain in principle.
LOL. Post #15 was BY YOU, talking about global poverty. So there's another statement that you're proved to be lying about.
If this is evidence of the quality of your work, I'm not surprised that you make popsickle sticks for a living. Kevmo responded to post #15, in which I raised the issue of Rossi. Get a clue. You've refuted nothing -- or do you claim Charlatan #1 doesn't respond to me re: Rossi on this thread?
The physics of how to do fusion are known. It's a solved problem. Take a look up in the sky on any clear day, because looking in a test tube is a waste of time.
Only cranks have ever claimed to see neutrons from Pons-Fleischman type experiments.
***Dr. Mossier-Boss in the Navy’s SPAWAR division found neutrons and had the paper published in a peer reviewed journal.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2214837/posts
I would suggest she isn’t a crank, and that she’s far smarter than you.
based on the quality of your arguments,
***Actually, the few times I’ve tangoed with you I’ve noticed a ton of logical fallacies, just like the straw argument upthread. So, you’re a graduate-level physicist who flunked first-year critical thinking courses. Something doesn’t add up.
The fundamental difference between the money spent of real fusion research and on hoax fusion is that real fusion researchers have milestones that they propose to the government. These are testable against a theory. Hoax fusion “researchers” have no such milestones, and no such theory. Some of them are even selling “reactors” to people which they cannot even explain in principle.
***For a FReeper with an advanced science degree, you sure don’t seem to know how science works. Right now there are verified results in High Temperature Superconductivity but there’s no theory to explain it. You would throw all that research into the category of a hoax, since there’s no theory to test against.
The physics of how to do fusion are known. It’s a solved problem. Take a look up in the sky on any clear day, because looking in a test tube is a waste of time.
***Yet another fallacious argument. Just because we can create a big bomb or the sun uses fusion does not mean we can CONTROL the process enough to harness it for everyday energy. That’s what the hot-fusion physicists have been failing at for 50 years and even you say they can’t tell us when to expect some useful results. If you’re so interested in rooting out fraud, go after those guys who’ve pissed hundreds of $billions down a rathole.
Cold Fusion has generated 14 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE better bang for the buck than controlled hot fusion.
———————www.mail-archive.com/vortex-l@eskimo.com/msg85822.html——————
How is the E-Cat doing these days?
He is the pre-eminent hoaxer in this pseudo science.
***A pseudo science that’s been replicated more than 14000 times, yeah right. /s
————————www.mail-archive.com/vortex-l@eskimo.com/msg85732.html———————
If it weren’t for Rossi’s frauds, you’d have precious few other frauds to draw from.
***I haven’t posted a “Rossi says” article in over 2 years. There have been dozens of LENR articles over those 2 years. If you’re so concerned about fraud, then why not chase down the hundreds of $Billions fraudulently spent on trying to control hot fusion? Because you really don’t care about the fraud aspect, you’re just here for another reason.
No one reputable has ever verified that these experiments are producing fusion. Your claims to the contrary are simply not believed by actual scientists, but even if everyone one in the world is wrong and you're correct, you could blow us all off the stage by producing a commercial product, or even a prototype that you allow independent scientists to measure and examine.
None of the hoax fusion people will do that, because just like ESP, precognition, spirit channeling, and all of the other crap that frauds have exposed gullible people to, when (actually "if" which is almost never) hoax fusion devices are examined by reputable people, they turn out to be junk.
There is real fraud being perpetrated by a quack who demonstrates a "device" which he won't allow anyone to examine, and which he now won't even allow independent researchers to verify the waste products from.
Why aren't you posting stuff about Rossi any more? Because he's a fake, he's been exposed as a fake, and everyone in the world knows it. The next snake oil salesman is now selling to gullible buyers in the Far East. I'm sure he's been telling them that cold "fusion" experiments have been done over 14,000 times.
Over the course of the ESP hoax, there were literally hundreds of thousands of tests. They had pretty much the same success record as cold "fusion" experimenters when they were happening in the darkened basements of the hoaxers without any supervision. But when people specifically trained to recognize fraud got ahold of them, they magically (and I am using the word literally) disappeared.
No doubt all the ESP "parapsychologists" are still reminding people that ESP has been successfully demonstrated hundreds of thousands of times.
Except when real scientists are watching.
Again: Where is the E-cat you were so breathless about just a few years ago?
How is the E-Cat doing these days?
***You can get one for $1.5Million.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3105430/posts
It’s getting cheaper and cheaper to prove this is a fraud but you hot-fusion boys are sitting on your hands.
You are citing your own email as a scientific source?
***Feel free to refute the argument. It should be easy, since you’re obviously so much smarter than me.
You are citing your own email as a scientific source?
***No, I’m saying your bowlsheet has been asked & answered, dozens of times. Yet another straw argument from you.
Wow. Just when I thought the credibility of Charlatan #1 (Kevmo) and Charlatan #2 (Wonder Warthog) could not get any lower, we get a self -referenced calculation as “proof.”
***Where did I say it was Proof? I didn’t. Yet another straw argument. And Noticeably, you do nothing to refute the argument. You don’t because you can’t. You’re a guy with advanced science degrees who can’t put together 3 posts without a logical fallacy. And you don’t argue what’s put in front of you, you sidetrack, because you simply cannot argue your point.
No one reputable has ever verified that these experiments are producing fusion.
***FEel free to generate that as a proof. At this point it is merely an assertion. My assertion is that the anomalous heat effect has energy releases so high that they can’t be explained by standard chemistry. I would love for this energy to be chemical, because then there would be no NRC involved in ratification of power plants.
Your claims to the contrary are simply not believed by actual scientists, but even if everyone one in the world is wrong and you’re correct, you could blow us all off the stage by producing a commercial product,
***That’s exactly what’s happening. Not just with Rossi, but with Brullion and Piantelli and perhaps others.
or even a prototype that you allow independent scientists to measure and examine.
***Let’s say I had a cold fusion 1MW heater. Why would I allow independent scientists to measure and examine the inside of my industrial secret? That would be stupid. And, sure enough, that’s exactly what Rossi did. He let them examine it as a black box and it was found to have 20k times more energy density than gasoline.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3023592/posts
None of the hoax fusion people will do that, because just like ESP, precognition, spirit channeling, and all of the other crap that frauds have exposed gullible people to, when (actually “if” which is almost never) hoax fusion devices are examined by reputable people, they turn out to be junk.
***Well, now you’ve thrown ELFORSK into the “disreputable” pile. Let’s see, that’s Toyota, Mitsubishi, Navy SPAWAR, Brullion, MFMP and several others you’ve thrown under this bus. You seem to have no regard for anyone. Who else will you be throwing under the bus in your quest to get rid of LENR?
There’s no fraud being perpetrated by mainstream physicists, materials scientists, and engineers who frankly say that we are decades if not a century away from a controlled real fusion.
***Sure there is. There’s been hundreds of $billions pissed down a rathole with nothing to show for it. It’s fraud. Certainly by the standards you’ve been promoting.
There is real fraud being perpetrated by a quack who demonstrates a “device” which he won’t allow anyone to examine, and which he now won’t even allow independent researchers to verify the waste products from.
***He let them examine it as a black box.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3023592/posts
At this point, industry is ahead of the scientific community, just like when the Wright brothers were flying circles around Huffman Prairie and the scientific luminaries of their day were saying it was impossible.
Why aren’t you posting stuff about Rossi any more?
***Because he isn’t much of a scientist. He’s an engineer with a product that’s getting refined. He’s missed so many deadlines that I’ve developed a wait&see attitude, and also because there’s a bunch of jerks posting on these LENR threads who engage in vigilante censorship, so it aint worth it.
Because he’s a fake,
***No, I posted my reasons.
he’s been exposed as a fake, and everyone in the world knows it.
***Then explain the independent results of 7 scientists and ELFORSK.
The next snake oil salesman is now selling to gullible buyers in the Far East.
***If I were in his shoes, I’d sell to whoever wants to buy.
I’m sure he’s been telling them that cold “fusion” experiments have been done over 14,000 times.
***I’m sure you simply have no idea what you’re talking about. Those 14000 replications were all done PRIOR to Rossi coming onto the scene.
Over the course of the ESP hoax, there were literally hundreds of thousands of tests.
***Oh, geez, what a ridiculous analogy to proceed from.
They had pretty much the same success record as cold “fusion” experimenters
***It was replicated 14000 times? Multi$Billion companies like National Instruments (experts in measurement error) said there was no measurement error, while citing 150 peer reviewed results?
when they were happening in the darkened basements of the hoaxers without any supervision.
***Uh, 150 peer reviewed results. Probably more than that.
But when people specifically trained to recognize fraud got ahold of them, they magically (and I am using the word literally) disappeared.
***Then ELFORSK, who specialize in Electrical Power Generation, are not scientifically trained? Where do you get this stuff?
No doubt all the ESP “parapsychologists” are still reminding people that ESP has been successfully demonstrated hundreds of thousands of times.
***And no doubt skeptopaths like you will jump on the LENR bandwagon when it comes to fruition. That’s what happened when the Wright brothers finally had a contract they could demo to.
Except when real scientists are watching.
***Uh huh, yeah right. ELFORSK isn’t real scientists. Dr. Mossier-Boss isn’t a real scientist. Dr. Arata isn’t a real scientist. I’d stack all them up against you, any day, any time.
Again: Where is the E-cat you were so breathless about just a few years ago?
***Rossi is going back to being himself. He never wanted to demo in the first place, but his friend Focardi got cancer and wanted the recognition due to him before he died. So he demo’d the stuff, prematurely, the worst demos in history. So bad that dimwits like you are convinced it’s fraud. But now that Focardi is gone, Rossi’s going back to cryptic mouth-shut mode and will let the market determine if he’s full of bowlsheet.
No one reputable has ever verified that these experiments are producing fusion.
***Yet another logical fallacy, a straw argument. Hundreds of “reputable scientists have verified that these experiments are producing” excess heat far more than what chemical reactions can account for. The actual reaction is not known at this time, just like the actual results behind high temperature superconductivity are unexplainable at this time. For someone with advanced science degrees, you sure post a lot of logical fallacies that a first year student wouldn’t be caught doing.
So called claims that his E-Cat have been "independently verified" are baloney. No one has ever verified this device under experimentally acceptable conditions. NO ONE.
In fact, all the experimental evidence we have from his "fusion" byproducts further verifies that the E-Cat is a hoax.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.