Fusion Power.....Does it exist?

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langi27

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#77162 11-Feb-2011 15:57

Today has been a somewhat boring day at work so I decided to muck around researching different energy sources, I'm looking into a small solar setup at home but somehow stumbled across these guys, Andrea Rossi and Professor Sergio Focardi of the University of Bologna in Italy.

They appear to have developed a Fusion type device, he(they) are claiming that for 400-800W of input power he can get 12-15kw in water heating out of it. The reaction involves Nickel, Cooper and hydrogen and some other patent pending ingredients.

If you can't sit through the 41 minute video have a look at this article
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/01/focardi-and-rossi-energy-catalyzer.html#

You tube link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4JUJhkpc3I
turn on the English sub-titles hit the CC button.

I wonder just how close we are to something that could replace traditional energy sources such as oil, natural gas, and coal etc to something like this, or do you think this a hoax, on the face of it they appear genuine and acknowledge there is still a ways to go until a commercial solution is found, but I'm sure at the quoted 1cent per kw/h (about a 20th of what I'm paying now) I'd like to think this was real.

Your thoughts.

SepticSceptic

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#439145 14-Feb-2011 10:38

Could be a massive disruptive technology. Or a huge scam :-)

Reading thru a few blogs, there are some Ni-H(?) reactions that are not fully understood, going all the way back to the 90's, and most publically with the Fleishman (?) Cold Fusion debacle a decade ago. They may have seen something, an unreproducable anomaly, so there could well be something there that is not fully understood.

Apparently the Rossi-Focardi reaction has been confirmed, or at least tested, by scientists at CERN and INFN, though disappointingly, no names or references ..

Just hope they don't get bought off, or worse, popped off :-)

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gzt

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#439719 15-Feb-2011 11:56

Academics or not, this group is essentially making commercial technology claims based on trade secrets. This is not the same as publishing research based scientific findings which can be verified/falsified.

Rather than publish scientific research they are choosing to go down the patent route. So, they are aiming to (a) get thousands of billions in technology licensing from a scientifically valid technology development, or (b) get several million in speculative technology licensing before the research can be scientifically questioned.

Scientific publication would be preferable and they would still make many hundreds of millions from consulting on implementation while still becoming (ironically) heroes for all time.

freitasm

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#439726 15-Feb-2011 12:12

All hail Mr Cochrane!

SepticSceptic

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#439735 15-Feb-2011 12:25

Only another 52 years to wait for Warp Drive !!!.

And 4 years for commercially available true holographic 3D TV ! And they said it wouldn't happen for at least 10 years.

oxnsox

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#439775 15-Feb-2011 13:10

Look out the window... we already have fusion, it's just parked 93million miles away- any closer and it'd be not as manageable. Or for a closer option drill down a few thousand miles...

Soo is it likely to be achieved within the confines of a laboratory(?), and perhaps further reduced for commercialization? (Damn the screen on my pocket device wore out and the fusion pack hasn't even reached its half life... oh well I'll just stick it in the drawer with all that other retro-techno junk.)

Trouble is we'll never know when we actually crack it because some clever bastard will then use the energy source to drive a time traveling apparatus that they'll use to go back in time to alter history to gain the benefit of having invented it them-self. Wouldn't you?