If you scan the energy news headlines these days one of the themes that comes up repeatedly is the shale revolution. Technological advancements and capital investment are making possible the recovery of oil and gas resources in quantities that were considered unthinkable just a few years ago. Energy experts and commentators consider shale energy world-changing and transformational in terms of the economic and geopolitical impact it will have.
But there is a technological development brewing that could easily eclipse the shale revolution. That is in the fledgling and little-discussed field of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR or cold fusion). To many people, research in this field is considered pseudoscience, an activity reserved for cranks and crackpots who are chasing an impossible dream. When cold fusion is mentioned, most people remember the Pons and Fleischmann announcement 25 years ago which ended with the scientists' humiliation after their 'desktop cold fusion' experiment proved famously difficult to replicate. Since that affair, many people refuse to take the topic seriously.
But there is something going on almost under the radar that could eventually send huge shockwaves around the world. It turns out that evidence strongly suggests that cold fusion/LENR is not a pipe dream after all, and we could be on the cusp of a world changing energy revolution far more significant than shale.
US-based Italian inventor Andrea Rossi, who along with the late Sergio Focardi (University of Bologna professor of physics) has invented a device known as the E-Cat (energy catalyzer) which operates on LENR principles. The E-Cat is a reactor which is able to produce anomalous amounts of heat in vast quantities when a mixture of nickel powder, hydrogen and proprietary catalysts is heated in a reaction chamber. The exact process involved is little understood, and is being tightly guarded as a closely held trade secret. Rossi has so far only been awarded a patent for the process in Italy. He has entered into a partnership with an undisclosed partner in the United States with the intent of launching a commercial operation in the near future which will manufacture E-Cat powered products to be used first in the industrial sector.
Related article: UK Reviving European Nuclear Energy at High Costs
What is the best evidence that the E-Cat is not simply the product of a raving megalomaniac or deluded inventor? E-Cat reactors were independently tested earlier this year by a team of European academics. They tested the performance of three high temperature E-Cat reactors in three separate tests each of which lasted for days. In the first test, the reactor actually melted as the reaction somehow got out of control. In the two subsequent tests when the apparatus was modified, the reactor ran stably at high temperatures for days at a time, and energy output was measured to be at least three times as much as the energy input into the system.
This research team published a report titled "Indication of anomalous heat energy produced in a reactor device" (published here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.3913), and concluded that the amount of energy produced by the E-Cat was found to have an energy density far above any known chemical source and at least "one order of magnitude greater than conventional energy sources." Andrea Rossi reports that long term testing of the E-Cat (at least six months in length) is currently underway, and publication of these test results is expected at some point next year.
One of the remarkable aspects of E-Cat Technology is that the raw materials used in the reactor -- nickel powder and ordinary hydrogen -- are cheap, abundant and readily available. The LENR process in the E-Cat is not one of combustion where fuel is burned, but some kind of nuclear reaction, the exact nature of which is still mysterious. When a charge of nickel powder is exhausted (after about six months), it can be recycled. The amounts of nickel and hydrogen actually consumed in the nuclear processes that take place in the reactor core are miniscule. Andrea Rossi has stated that if the whole world switched over to E-Cat-based power, only one percent of the annual production of nickel would be utilized.
The E-Cat has many advantages compared to traditional nuclear power: the fuel itself is not radioactive, and no radioactive waste is produced, meaning there is no chance of a Fukushima style meltdown, or of it being used in a nuclear weapon. As in conventional nuclear plants there are no greenhouse gasses emitted during the reaction, which makes the E-Cat a clean energy source.
The work of Andrea Rossi has generally been met with skepticism by leading commentators in the scientific community and the media. This is not very surprising considering the magnitude of his claims which challenge conventional thinking about physics, and the fact that Rossi has not yet published a theoretical model that explains how his reactor works. With so much secrecy involved many people feel that Rossi's claims cannot be verified and should therefore be ignored -- or dismissed as some kind of fraud or trickery.
Related article: Nuclear Power Gets Hope from New Radiation Data
I think otherwise. I have spent the last two-and-a-half years investigating and reporting about this fascinating story, and I am convinced that there is something extraordinary going on that should be taken seriously. For more about why I am convinced that the E-Cat is a real and important phenomenon read here.
I believe that as we consider the future of energy we should not discount LENR. If Andrea Rossi successfully launches the E-Cat into the marketplace the world will certainly take notice, and realize that energy can be produced more inexpensively, safely and cleanly than ever thought possible and intense research in the field will undoubtedly take off around the world. LENR has the potential to herald a new era of energy production which in comparison may make the shale revolution seem a rather minor event.
By. Frank Acland
Frank Acland is publisher and editor of E-Cat World
Comments
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Actually, those are not the main reasons for skepticism with respect to Rossi. The problem is the discrepancy between the magnitude of the claim and what Rossi offers as proof. Most skeptics don't care at all that there is no theory -- if the ecat works, what difference does that make?
But Rossi has not proven that the ecat works. He has instead, given a dozen or more demos, each of which was done entirely with his equipment and his measurement methods. None has been independent of Rossi. Some think Levi's tests qualify as independent but in fact, he is an old colleague and friend of Rossi's. In addition, he botched an early test in February 2011. Repetition of that simple direct test, properly done, could prove that Rossi has what he claims but amazingly, Rossi and Levi not only refuse to do the repeat testing but they won't even discuss it-- even when the person asking is as friendly and important as Dr. Brian Josephson. Levi doesn't even reply to his emails. Ask Dr. Josephson if you doubt me!
Yet, Rossi keeps making incredible claims -- million unit robotic plans under construction, nickel isotopes manufactured by Rossi cheaply, megawatt thermal power plants for sale with four months delivery quotes since November 2011-- except that nobody has ever seen one and no company has ever admitted buying one. How is it possible that nobody has a mere million dollars to see and have such a wonder as a million watt cold fusion device. Heck, I'd give Rossi his asking price in a heart beat in cash if he wanted. Except that he'd have to prove to me it was real by an independent test. And so far he's never had one. You think Elforsk wouldn't be testing and displaying one right now if it were real?
Every test Rossi has done has been under the shadow of unanswered or badly answered questions, obvious issues, and bad methodology. That could easily be fixed if Rossi would repeat the particular test (not a new style of one) with the recommended fixes. But Rossi always refuses to do that-- he's too busy, it's not necessary, he has nothing to prove, and so on. Ridiculous, incredible excuses are his specialty.
Who are his certificators-- the ones slowing him down so much? Why doesn't he show an ecat where certification is not so difficult-- Ukraine or Nigeria or even China, for example?
Why does he associate with Green of Australia and Schneider of Germany, both advertising and perpetrating highly questionable products in the past? Rossi can't find someone better to market the most amazing product of the last hundred years?
No. Rossi is most emphatically not credible in the slightest. And his operations are reminiscent of previous investor/distributor scams by such companies as Steorn, and such people as convicted free energy magnetic motor felons Carl Tilley and Dennis Lee.
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"With so much secrecy involved many people feel that Rossi's claims cannot be verified and should therefore be ignored -- or dismissed as some kind of fraud or trickery."
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It's not the secrecy so much as that what is shown is shown improperly and tested incorrectly when the proper way to proceed with tests and demos is very obvious to anyone conversant with basic of heat transfer and fluid flow. The tests done by Rossi are simply wrong. The experiment design leaves gaping flaws and provides defects which could negate all his claims. The same, by the way, is true of Defkalion.
If either Rossi or Defkalion want to be believed, all they have to do is allow a truly independent test by a completely reputable and credible party. It could be a university officially (not a few gullible professors way over their head and in Rossi's own lab). It could be a government agency in a world power country. It could be a group of famous scientists (REALLY FAMOUS!) working together with methods and results completely open and visible to the scientific community.
My personal belief is that none of this will ever happen. I have no idea if LENR is real. I am pretty confident that Rossi and Defkalions do not have the methods needed to produce the power levels they claim from the fuels they claim to use.
I have assembled as much information as I could uncover on the reality of commercial LENR and posted it here if you are interested. Judge for yourself.
www.lenrweb.com
tyler
LENR is alive and well because of the efforts of those scientists and engineers who have seen the benefits.
Large companies, like Toyota Mitsubishi STMicro Elforsk, have come public in their investments in this fledgling industry and have patented their particular efforts.
I look forward to the day when an incubator company changes the world with it's introduction of a LENR commercial product.
And I suspect that if I bothered to read your vomit that I would find it filled with lies, which demonstrates your mental illness and/or character deficiency.
http://www.nss.org/settlement/space/oneillcylinder.htm
What I find annoying is that it's every time the same guy or girl (Maryyugo) who's reaction is always very negative about this topic.
Much like a religious zealot, Maryugo is investing absurd amounts of time trying to convince other people to disbelieve in LENR and especially Rossi, up to the point where one would start to believe there is an agenda here. It feels like a crusade, not an opinion. Just google Maryyugo and find out for yourself: https://www.google.com/#q=maryyugo+
Now people are also perfectly capable of finding out if they trust the opinion of this Maryyugo or if there is something other than real concern about a scam going on here.
One hundred percent proof for any scientific event can only be delivered when the fully tested theory is known and then for some only when working devices are for sale at wallmart. Be that as it may, at the moment we are dealing with an unknown phenomenon (hence the term anomalous heat energy), so one can only go for the empirical evidence that something on a nuclear scale is happening. NASA, SPAWAR, MIT, TOYOTA, MITSUBISHI and lots of others have replicated LENR reactions all over the world. This is known fact and can be checked all over the internet. So fact is that something is happening but we don't know what it is exactly and we call it LENR. That is the current state of scientific knowledge. Rossi and others in the field may know more but we cannot be sure. They claim to have working reactors and have demoed them. Whether you believe that or not you must again decide for yourself.
But if you keep going on about incorrect tests and faulty reports but ignore the empirical evidence you are on a personal or paid crusade and very suspect in my opinion.
"Given the deliberately conservative choices made in performing the measurement, we can reasonably state that the E-Cat HT is a non-conventional source of energy which lies between conventional chemical sources of energy and nuclear ones." (i.e. about five orders of magnitude more energy dense than gasoline, and a COP of almost 6).
This phenomenon (LENR) has been confirmed in hundreds of published scientific papers: http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/RothwellJtallyofcol.pdf
"LENR has the demonstrated ability to produce excess amounts of energy, cleanly, without hazardous ionizing radiation, without producing nasty waste.” - Dennis Bushnell, Chief Scientist at NASA Langley Research Center
"Total replacement of fossil fuels for everything but synthetic organic chemistry." --Dr. Joseph M. Zawodny, NASA
By the way, here is a survey of some of the companies that are bringing LENR to commercialization: http://www.cleantechblog.com/blog/2011/08/the-new-breed-of-energy-catalyzers-ready-for-commercialization.html
For those who still aren't convinced, here is a paper I wrote that contains some pretty convincing evidence: http://coldfusionnow.org/the-evidence-for-lenr/
One of the largest semi-conductor manufacturers in the world ST Microelectronics with an annual turnover of $8 Billion has just filed a patent for a LENR reactor, joining the list of companies in the LENR business: http://www.google.com/patents/US20130243143
I have been watching this LENR stuff more than 3 years now. Believe it or not mr. Rossi hasn't been able to convince me.
I remember clearly how he promised 3 years ago to start production of 12kW small units within a year.
Nothing has happened. Instead he forgets his 12kW unit and start to talk about 1MW unit.
But the main obstacle remains. Noone except Rossi has been able to repeat his LENR experiment.
Not speaking of lack of theoretical basis for LENR in Nickel.
I have been watching this LENR stuff more than 3 years now. Believe it or not mr. Rossi hasn't been able to convince me.
I remember clearly how he promised 3 years ago to start production of 12kW small units within a year.
Nothing has happened. Instead he forgets his 12kW unit and start to talk about 1MW unit.
But the main obstacle remains. Noone except Rossi has been able to repeat his LENR experiment.
Not speaking of lack of theoretical basis for LENR in Nickel.
Hence, just by the fact that a lot of companies have gone into LENR research, we can deduce that there is some truth to it.
The fact that no products have come out only means that no one yet knows exactly how it works; a product can't be sold unless the seller knows how it works.
So, hard as it is, we must be patient.
Have a good day and may God bless you.
"Something as good as LENR could make Rossi rich without much work at all. Just publish it. Then tell everybody he was poor and ask for donations. He would get millions if it really worked."
Just plain ridiculous...
Andrea Rossi developed the original low energy E-Cat and began planning to manufacture domestic energy reactors-then he discovered:
1. difficulties in certification of domestic reactors.
2. the possibility of someone opening a reactor to copy technology.
3. Difficulties with obtaining a patent.
4. Improvements came rapidly and soon there was a Hot Cat capable of powering electric generators.
5. It was obvious, a 1MV reactor could be secured so copycats could not have access to the reactors.
6. American Manufacturer became involved and are now testing and planning the manufacture of Rossi Reactors!
SO, WHY WORRY, BE HAPPY!!! THE REACTORS AND COMING SOON. jdh
Toyota confirms Mitsubishi transmutation
http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/lattice-energy-llc-toyota-confirms-mitsubishi-transmutation-of-cs-to-proct-31-2013
and
Indication of anomalous heat energy production in a reactor device containing hydrogen loaded nickel powder
http://www.elforsk.se/Global/Aktuellt/Artikel Arxiv 1305 3913.pdf
So, LENR is real. The existential problem, in other words, has been "solved".
The real problem is now how to engineer useful systems.
This is not as difficult as at first appears, however. Unlike in Hot Fusion, there is no need for a billion degrees of heat at hundreds of atmosphere pressure in some sort of (unstable) magnetic confinement (D-shaped) field, nor is there any need for concrete containment bunkers, inches thick radiation shielding, and armed guards as required for Uranium fission reactors - not to mention waste storage facilities to store the radioactive waste for both.
Instead, in engineered LENR systems to date, the pressures are 1 - 10 atmospheres, 187-200 degrees of heat (or 600, for the "hot kind"). A source of infrared photons (that's radiated heat to you and me), high frequency compression waves (called phonons, after sound waves), nickel nano-powder and monatomic hydrogen are also required. All this is then combined in a volume no bigger than a small hot water flask.
The good news is, if this flask breaks, the reaction stops straight away. Also, no radioactive byproducts are produced that need to be stored afterward and what is produced, Helium-4, is very useful given there is currently a growing shortage of this gas.
What differences there are in competing systems characteristics is generally down to the ratio of De-De fusion (MFMP, for example) to "softer" transmutation (Brillouin, for example): transmutation, by its very nature, produces no escape of high energy gamma radiation or other particles. De-De fusion is what is normally seen in hot fusion, and is generally negligible to
non-existent in the LENR systems, but does explain the occasional production of Gamma - something that is a part of the "control mix" currently being looked into.
Finally, a regular conference on "Anomalous Heat Effects", now known as the International Conference on Cold Fusion (for historical reasons), has been held since 1990. Details of the latest conference held may be found here:
ICCF-18 Conference
http://iccf18.research.missouri.edu/index.php
with videos at :
ColdFusionNow Youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?feature=edit_ok&list=PL7rx5Nfge9pdxoDJMrc7b9FAgIdMc8M3V
Particularly interesting for understanding what is going on in LENR theory is the video:
ICCF-18 : Andrew Meulenberg "Composite Model ..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcTSUJUCRHE
which is a composite that lays out what is so far understood about how the observed Anomalous Heat Effects occur.
There is also quite a useful starting point here for getting across the salient points (as far as "engineering a solution" is concerned):
LENR 101
http://www.scribd.com/doc/175541775/LENR-101
Now, strictly speaking, LENR is not Cold Fusion, but rather more transmutation, but this point is more of interest to theoreticians than whether you can produce a viable power source or not.
So, I hope this provides some more insight to those wanting to get to know about LENR. One thing is for certain: LENR is coming and its disruptive effects, for good or ill, will be MASSIVE on the world, kind of like the transition from mechanical calculators, to mainframes, to minis, to PCs, to personal devices in the ICT world, only bigger - much, much bigger - if you just have the imagination to dream up what is possible...
He does not want you to know that Dennis Bushnell from NASA, Nobel laureate Brian Josephson, and US Navy SPAWAR all find the LENR reaction not only real, but a promising future technology.
He wants you to focus on the outlandish behavior of an italian inventor.
He does not want you to know Toyota, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are all now focusing on underlying mechanisms for heavy water (Deuterium) undergoing heat producing processes in Palladium and / or Nickel metals.
He does not want you to know this technology is with high probability already operational in the classified sector similar to stealth technology (carbon / RAM) was in the late 70s.
He does not want you to know millions of dollars USD is already changing hands for research incubators at credible laboratories.
Maryyugo will never point you to papers published by Mitsubishi scientists showing a type of electrochemical reaction that vindicates Pons and Fleischmann, who's only fault was not having a 2013 understanding of sophisticated Physics (deuterium loading).
Maryyugo is either an obsessive critic (like those classical german physicists who were against Einstein), or paid responder "shill".
IF LENR is safe, reliable, repeatable, and scalable, I believe it's global impact would be greater than the internet.
The geopolitical consequences of removing power from those who have it would be interesting to watch, an actual real world energy revolution.
The pros and cons of LENR have been debated adnauseum (with much mud slinging and name calling),on multiple forums. Zealots on both sides refusing to budge an inch from their well dug in positions of faith vs. physics,(2 on this board already, nothing new there).
Each group citing multiple references supporting their own arguments, but refusing to consider the counterpoints, because, if they do, their own argument may collapse.
However, as I see it, far to many independent, seemingly separate groups are reporting some amounts, (however small),of LENR?? based anomolous heat. IF these reports are to be believed, it is hard for me to imagine that this is due to mass measurement incompentence, or some kind of global conspiracy.
I look forward to reading about their successes in a version scaled past "milliwatts in test tubes", to MW reactors that can be utilized in real world applications, hopefully, LENR proves scalable.
However, if this time next week/month/year/decade comes and goes with nothing, I will not be surprised.
Conclusion: Coal and nuke industries are candidates for bancruptcy within 3-5 years, Power Station sector within 5-8 years. Oil businesses will také heavy impact with high probability. And if 1/50 of what Mehran Tavakoli Keshe is talking is real, so all will upside down.
My own very heretical prediction: These technologies are producing not only energy, they are producing also mass.
>Energy - a U.S. based company with a) credible theory, b) transparent data, c) capable management
>and partnership with SRI and d) private funding.
Well, they for sure will have more focus as soon as their COP performance exceeds E-cat. More "bla-bla-bla" is a way less efficient method to get more focus then actual performance tested by third parties. The ultimate "focus" would be the product they sell on market; not the "theories" but the product in form of the LENR device. While their product is the "theories" they will remains on fringe of science bucked only by foolish money...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon-catalyzed_fusion
It sounds like creating ultra low momentum neutrons is the challenge for lend.
Of ecats, or e pussicats.
LENR is a different story, but still many years in the future.
Deja vue.
The replies to Maryyugo's post -- both the hysterical/religious and the more sane -- dodged this point.
But they needn't have. Although the implication is plausible -- if it works, it would be put up for test - there may actually be reasons that have restrained the inventor from allowing an independent test. I can't think of any, but I suppose there could be.
At the end of day, however, I fear you can't escape the logic that Maryyugo advanced:
" If either Rossi or Defkalion want to be believed, all they have to do is allow a truly independent test by a completely reputable and credible party. It could be a university officially (not a few gullible professors way over their head and in Rossi's own lab). It could be a government agency in a world power country. It could be a group of famous scientists (REALLY FAMOUS!) working together with methods and results completely open and visible to the scientific community."
Until that happens, please ... keep your hand on your wallet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Rossi_(entrepreneur)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2013/05/20/finally-independent-testing-of-rossis-e-cat-cold-fusion-device-maybe-the-world-will-change-after-all/
(read the discussion in the comments)
http://www.science20.com/quantum_diaries_survivor/more_rossis_ecat_ericsson_and_pomp_rebut_independent_test-116259
I'm waiting for ECATs to be offered to me for 'investment' by telephone solicitors with UNAVAILABLE or WITHHELD return numbers, along with diamonds, rare earth metals, carbon credits, fine wines, unmined gold ....