Sent to me by long-time reader Peter Hunt.
The Suppression of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions
Our national scientific organizations, from the Department of Energies multiple labs to NASA and the prestigious Naval Research Labs all recognize that a new clean and low cost mechanism for producing energy has come into being. It exists it is replicable and has broad applications. This new evolving science of energy production, which had it’s start with two electro Chemists, Fleischman and Pons back in 1989 holds the potential for near to unlimited clean, inexpensive and thermal power.
The technology, which is as of yet not fully understood, now travels under multiple names of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR), Lattice Assisted Nuclear Reactions (LANR) or the old moniker of “ Cold Fusion”.
For validation and the dimensions of the potential impacts see the official NASA Video:
http://technologygateway.nasa.gov/media/CC/lenr/lenr.html
Or their three sets of Power Point presentations which were released this last Fall under a Freedom of Information request:
http://blog.newenergytimes.com/2011/12/04/slides-from-sept-22-nasa-lenr-innovation-forum-workshop/
Add to this the technical validation of Shell Oil and BP ( Amoco) which were conducted in 1995 and buried only to be recently released. Then there is the ten years of Technical Papers by the Office of Naval Research and the peer reviewed Journal of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science which has been around for several years.
This phenomena of LENR holds the answer to climate change problems, in that it produces no greenhouse gases, fossil fuel depletion and escalating costs, with no troublesome by products. It utilizes the reaction of elemental Hydrogen and Nickel rather than the historic use of Deuterium and rare Palladium, which were the initial materials of Fleischmann and Pons. This use of metal hydrides consumed in exceptionally small quantities do not pose raw material problems and the conditions of reaction are mild in terms of temperature and pressure.
In short it is clean, cheap and simple in fabrication so that it could be used at the household level for huge savings in heat and power under what is called dispersed generation. Close to free energy. The step up to electrical production from this near to unlimited heat source is not trivial but well within the spectrum of engineering and time using simple heat engines such as the Sterling cycle. Yes there is a good deal of engineerin g yet to be done to optimize the systems but little excuse for “ denial”.
Yet because of it’s disruptive implications to a high cost and polluting energy based economy our government refuses to acknowledge, discuss and much less support it’s development with public funds. Indeed there is evidence of overt suppression on the part of our government while The Department of Energy and Climate Change of Great Britain acknowledges and is openly examining the potential benefits. Those in the know such as our government officials and privileged private sector members will, however, have the chance to adjust their personal behavior, portfolio’s to profit and protect themselves.
Under multiple names such as “cold fusion”, from the days of Fleischmann and Pons in 1989 to the current moniker of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions ( LENR ) or Lattice Assisted Nuclear Reactions ( LANR ) the phenomenon of utilizing the lattice of metal and Hydrogen as metal hydrides we can produce near to unlimited energy in the form of heat. The cost is low, the conditions mild in terms of temperature and pressure, and the rate of common materials consumption is amazingly low.
Secretary Chu of the Department of Energy is surely on the inside of these developments and has briefed and been briefed on it’s potential – yet he remains publically silent. For a scientist and a public servant this is betrayal. Let the insiders profit first – let the insiders protect their positions before a slow leaking to public knowledge stirs the markets.
Know that China, Japan, Korea , Italy and Greece are moving quickly on this technology and it’s engineering. They will in short soon eat our lunch because of overt neglect. Our reactant behavior will put us at an even further disadvantage in world competition.
Yes. J’accuse our government of betrayal of the public weal.
In a land of lies truth becomes treason. This from our temple of Science.
Peter S. Hunt Feb 16 2012
tits says:
Cool, now we just have to worry about the peaking of minerals, metals, soils, water, climate and each other.
Cold fusion is a non starter for a bridge fuel, it might work on a very small lab scale but no way will it upscale to create commercial energy, at least not for 30 years or so anyway. And by that time the world will be in some giant water war with water as the weapon and no doubt using huge water cannons to kill each other to stop each other getting to the water. Tell me humans aren’t that dumb
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19th February 2012 at 5:17 pm
Muck About says:
Just think! Thanks to the energy lobby, we have totally wasted over 20 years in pursuit of this technology! Everyone and anyone with an ox that would be gored denied LENR from the word go.
Pons and Fleischman hit a home run in 1989 and were assassinated by big oil and conventional nuclear lobbies.
Too bad, for if we had started research on the process in 1990, my home would have a hot water heater that would also power all the A/C and lighting and be an “off the grid” application that is absolutely environmentally clean as a whistle.
There are two things that Goobermint and Corporations cannot allow to happen. #1. An independent power source that is not centrally controlled and doled out to the public. #2. A sound money that cannot be counterfeit BY ANYONE.
A man with his own private power source and sound money will, other things being equal, likely prosper in ways we cannot even dream of.
This article and accompanying information first pisses me off at “what could have been” and then thrills me with “what might be” in the future.
MA
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19th February 2012 at 5:53 pm
Mikey says:
@Muck About
Actually the Pons and Fleishmann experiment was slammed by scientists because they claimed that nuclear fusion took place – yet there were no gamma rays decteded (though something similar was).
That said, they did find something that generated more power than could be explained by chemical reactions, AND a net power production. I do recall reading in the early 90s that a major industrial player (Pacific Bell maybe? I can’t recall or find the link to it ATM) had a research lab destroyed as they were trying to scale up the concept to commerical sizes.
I’d have loved to have seen more work done on whatever the hell they found.
The biggest issue I could think of with these things, is that apparently they don’t scale up to commerical-sizes for conventional power generation. (bloody huge power plant pumping out massive amounts of juice from one spot) It’d require a decentralised approach that makes business models change. No big business likes changing their business model – too many admin grunts and middle managers have to redo everything, and that’s too hard. It is after all just those people that scuttle most business changes from the inside.
I can see huge demands for those sort of systems though for light industrial or highly mobile uses.
Hell, if they were commercially available, we’d switch all our rigs and mobile camps over to them in a flash – shipping deisel all over the country is damned expensive. Transport costs almost double the fuel costs. Add to that storage, safe disposal, leak and spill clean up costs…. ugh.
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19th February 2012 at 8:52 pm
Peter S. Hunt says:
The issue of shortages in the hydrides or material is not at present seen as critical. Metals other that Nickel may be preferable but even here nickel is in far from short supply.
the Rossi, Defkalifon systems are still likely subject to substantial improvement in design and materials. The scalar issues of building large heat generators or systems that directly produce electic power are under present examination. ( See Dr. Miley’s work at University of Illinois)
The crtitical issue is why has our government ” blacked out” research and public notice of the opportunities. Have they not heard of “sunk costs” and are so wedded to the staus quo that they Shiva and freeze in the headlights of new technology”? Or do they just want to sell us out for the money in terms of political contributions?
Curious is it not, that in concert with the recent big Bank criminal forgiveness ruling Obama set up his secret Super Pac where contributors would not be identified. A system, he had to this point, condemned.
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19th February 2012 at 10:28 am
GreasedUpWillie says:
We don’t need this technology. We have corn-based ethanol. All is well
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19th February 2012 at 1:50 pm
Ron says:
Think about a future with no energy. Well that seems to be the Obama thinking.
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19th February 2012 at 7:43 pm
Novista says:
A new energy technology would knock JHK’s “world made by hand” right on its ass. Can’t have that!
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19th February 2012 at 8:41 pm
Stucky says:
I have nothing to say. I just want to see “Stucky” on all 15 spots under “latest posts”/
But AWD is making it difficult.
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19th February 2012 at 1:41 am
Peter Roe says:
Betrayal by the UK government over energy policy is nothing new. They seem to be totally determined to saddle us with new nuclear build absolutely regardless of Fukushima or any other factors. Recently they cancelled all support for tidal power – the one technology that in the UK actively threatened the nuclear industry (tidal lagoons in the Severn estuary could match the output of the proposed Hinkley Point C station) and are now plotting to saddle the coal and gas burners with compulsory ‘carbon capture’ technology. This is simply a backdoor way to increase generation costs so nuclear can compete, all under the usual cynical ‘green’ camouflage. They clearly have an unshakeable pro-nuclear agenda – one has to wonder what lies behind it.
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19th February 2012 at 5:32 am