The testing of Andrea A. Rossi’s 1 Megawatt proto-type nickel-hydrogen reactor is underway in Bologna, Italy. Reportedly conducted for a customer from the US, there is limited access to the private event, although Sterling D. Allan from Pure Energy Systems is attending and will be posting his impressions here on E-Day: Tracking the 1MW Test.
What is 1 Megawatt? This article from Hank Mills and Mr. Allan describes it in easy to understand language. Given an average electrical usage of between 1 and 1.5 kiloWatts per home, a 1 MegaWatt unit producing electricity could power between 750 and 1000 homes.
It should be noted that Mr. Rossi’s reactor is a thermal energy device that produces steam heat and not electricity. However, as a first step in a revolutionary new energy technology, this is the beginning of an era for the development of ultra-clean power from hydrogen.
While negative press continue to prejudice this science, the effect of Mr. Rossi’s demonstrations technology has increased the level of awareness in the public about cold fusion research.
Here Edmund Storms talks about how a commercially available device will affect the attitudes in the political class.
Mitchell Swartz of Jet Energy, a cold fusion research company that has developed the Phusor and Nanor reactor, has put together some quotes made by accomplished individuals that reveal bias towards the new, the unfamiliar, the revolutionary, for even the smartest people can’t always imagine what’s possible.
Consider this statement:
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olson Chairman and founder Digital Equipment Corporation from 1977
Dr. Edmund Storms describes an application of the cold fusion effect transmutation.
A Periodic Table organizes all the matter known to humans.Transmutation is a process of one element turning into another element which, by definition, is a reaction involving nuclear particles called protons.
Elements describe the types of matter that exist in the physical world and are organized in charts like the Periodic Table.
An atom is the smallest piece of matter that can still be called an element. Elements combine to form molecules and the matter we see around us.
The research of Ukrainian scientists, including Professors Vladimir Vysotskii and A. Kornikova, has revealed biological organisms, such as various forms of bacteria, that have the ability to initiate nuclear reactions with their environment, including radioactive materials like cesium, which they transmute to stable, non-radioactive elements.
This application may offer an avenue for ridding the planet of the thousands of tons of radioactive waste that presently pollute the planet.
Short Course on Nuclear Transmutation 16th International Conference On Condensed Matter Nuclear Science from [ISCMNS]
Successful Experiments On Utilization Of High-Activity Nuclear Waste In The Process Of Transmutation In Growing Associations Of Microbiological Cultures by V. I. Vysotskii, V. N. Shevel, A. B. Tashirev, A. A. Kornilova 2003 [.pdf from LENR.org]
Advanced transmutation processes and their application for the decontamination of radioactive nuclear wastes by A. Michrowski Proceedings 2nd International LENR Conference [.html 1996]
Biological Transmutations by C. Lewis. Kervran 1980. Reviewed by Eugene Mallove from Infinite Energy
From the Review:
“Kervran’s thesis is that the transmutation of elements, in particular by reactions among the first few dozen of the periodic table, occurs regularly in biological systems—both in microbes and in multicellular organisms such as human beings. Transmutation is inherent to biology.”
The graph of the Oil Age shows a thin blip in geological time with an Era of Cold Fusion for the future – and a “little” space between them. The Oil Age is a blip. Cold fusion can take humanity beyond what can be foreseen.
The transition from dirty fossil fuels and today’s dangerous nuclear power plants into clean cold fusion will entail the dismantling of an entire infrastructure core to the economy and culture of the world, and particularly for the Western nations.
The scale and reach are staggering.
What would a transition narrative look like? Edmund Storms, LENR researcher and author of The Science of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction has thought about these issues for two decades, and has some compelling scenarios.
We spoke with Dr. Storms this past August and this is what he had to say on “Transition”.
The spate of “mainstream” press on Andrea Rossi’s Energy Catalyzer has brought new pubic attention to the field of cold fusion/LENR/LENR research.
Some of the recent articles include:
Wired U.K. 2011/10/06 Cold Fusion rears its head as ‘E-Cat’ research promises to change the world. [link]
Oilprice.com 2011/10/13 Are we on the Brink of an Energy Revolution: Andrea Rossi to Build 1MW Power Plant. [link]
Computerworld 2011/10/14 Cheap Power: An overnight revolution. [link]
Forbes 2011/10/17 Hello Cheap Energy, Hello Brave New World [link]
Even beyond the excess-heat effect between the forms of hydrogen and various metals that cold fusion research seeks to exploit, the entire field of new-energy, including the generation of power from magnets, zero point and other sources, and that Sterling Allan of Pure Energy Systems has cataloged, is receiving more deserving eyeballs.
In his Commentary on Cheap power: An overnight revolution, Mr. Allan noted the “favorable coverage” the article in Computerworld and echoed by Forbes, gave to Mr. Rossi’s E-Cat demonstration. He also seized upon one of the links in the article to The Singularity is Near, a website based upon the work of Ray Kurzweil and his book The Singularity is Near.
The website has a number of charts based on sourced data that all support the idea that humanity is nearing a point of singularity, a bifurcation point if you will, where a profound change in our civilization will occur. Using data given for the Mass Use of Inventions, where mass-use is defined as use by one-quarter of the population, Mr. Allan extrapolated the time it would take to have a mass use of cold fusion, after its first commercialization. His conclusion was that it might take about 3 years to disseminate the technology to one-quarter of the population.
Having read previous estimates of ten years by other informed analysts, I read Mr. Allan’s conclusion with great enthusiasm, tinged with disappointment. As one of my friends and music mentor Jack Wright wrote, “I want everything and I want it now.”
Concerns for safety are at the heart of many of the lengthy timeframes for adoption of cold fusion technology. However I fear our planet can’t wait 10 years for clean energy, and to stretch my vision even three years hence is to view a dark chasm, where economic and ecological devastation, famine and war are the only reference in sight.
Yet between bouts of doom-and-gloom, we always return ‘cheerful and optimistic’ (a la Jayne Cortez), and it appears distinctly possible that 1.75 billion people worldwide could be using cold fusion technology much sooner than three years. But how can I justify that fantastic belief to the world of men?
Without trying to “one-up” Mr. Allan, as it was his inspiration that led to this chart, here the data is fitted (using the wonderful free and open-source Geogebra) to three exponential curves and, in my opinion, gives visual-space credibility to the mass use of cold fusion in one year or less after it is commercially introduced.
A first exponential fit for all the data points does not improve the timeline, as the thin, black curve shows.
But notice the inventions listed; the telephone, radio, and television are all the innovative tools of communication based on analog technology; the computer, the mobile phone, and the Internet are all innovative tools of communication based on digital technology.
These are two distinctly different types of technology.
Fitting an exponential curve to just the points B, C, and D representing the analog inventions gives the green curve.
Fitting an exponential curve to the points E, F, and G, representing the digital devices gives the blue curve. Looking at the year 2012 on the blue curve, we could project that the next innovative technology, one of energy, could be adopted by the population in about one year.
Data points A-G were given by The Singularity is Near at www.singularity.com. Points E, F, and G generate the exponential-fitted blue curve. Point H representing cold fusion is inserted on the curve at the year 2012.
“The reality is, while there’s immensely more interest, it still hasn’t hit the major media, the New York Times, Time magazine, things like that. If Rossi does what he is planning to do, namely run a 1 Megawatt source for a couple of months, then, it is going to be big news.
You look back in history, 40 some days after the Fleischmann/Pons announcement 23rd of March in 1989, the covers of Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report I think it was, all had cold fusion on them. It could be a repeat of that if Rossi comes through.“ —David J. Nagel
If it took 40 days to be on the covers of major magazines in 1989, it may only take a week in 2012, and that lengthy stretch is only because the hardware realities of printed matter require a lead-time. We know the information about any new energy technology in use will be distributed everywhere on Earth, as well as in orbit, in a matter of moments through the Noosphere.
In many systems, past behavior does not predict future behavior. Likewise, it should be clear by now that complex mathematical modeling does nothing to clarify the elements of our financial system, nor do smooth functions describe the bumpy reality of human technology. Math is a magic that hypnotizes men’s minds. We only accept these gross approximations as a rough estimate of one possibility.
There are many factors to take into account, including unquantifiable ones.
Cold Fusion Now!
Supporting Links
Cheap Power: An overnight revolution – Commentary by Sterling Allan from Pure Energy Systems
A fresh, expertly edited video was posted up on the ecat.com website. It’s another inside look at the October 6 demonstration of Andrea A. Rossi‘s E-Cat unit.
Also available on the ecatdotcomyoutube channel, there is indication that more footage and interview will be released soon from this very professional crew.
New Fire Economy
One US 5 cent coin has enough nickel to
generate E-Cat energy equal to 5 barrels of oil.
Let’s add this look from Radio Città del Capo, in Italian, too. Read their summary of the event here.
Our greatest blessings come by way of madness, indeed of a madness that is heaven-sent. –‘Socrates’ on the Oracle of Delphi in Phaedo
A test of the first commercial cold fusion technology held on October 6 at the University of Bologna, Italy continues to draw debate on just how much excess heat was generated.
Excess heat is the condition of more heat energy created than equivalent energy put in a device and is the sought-after effect in cold fusion research for its potential to generate ultra-clean power to replace dirty fossil and dangerous radioactive fuels.
E-Cats link together to scale up for a 1 MW unit. Photo: Daniele PasseriniAndrea A. Rossi‘s Energy Catalyzer, or E-Cat as it is called, is essentially a hot-water boiler expected to be marketed as a thermal energy device. A small version of the reactor, which can be scaled to various levels, was the object of the test last Thursday that brought scientists from around the world to observe and measure its properties.
Preliminary data revealed that excess heat was produced; though just how much will remain unknown until reports from the various scientists in attendance are released.
An early tweet from Robert Zreick and subsequent report by NYTeknik science journalist Mats Lewan showed a lower limit of excess heat between 2-3 kilowatts. This value is a lower limit as a small amount of hot water and steam were removed from the system without measurement. Had that heated mass of water and steam been measured and the energy added to the system, the total excess heat measured would be higher.
In this particular demonstration, a heat exchanger cooled and condensed the steam emitted from the E-Cat transferring the heat to a secondary flow of water. The change in temperature of that secondary flow of water gives one measure of the energy provided by the E-Cat.
Using the data provided by Mats Lewan, this graph generated by Eric Hustedt (see below; my addition includes the arrows and text.) Both the input energy curve and the output energy curves are plotted together. Input power is in the form of electrical power and used to start the reaction between the fuel of hydrogen and its nickel powder environment. Output power was measured by the difference in temperatures of the water in a secondary loop of heated water.
At first, it appears the input power is turned on and off a few times. The output power drops during this initial (loading?) period, then begins to rise rapidly, settling on a bumpy plateau. After about four hours, around mark 15:37, the output power appears to increase rapidly again, rising almost vertically to over 6 kilowatts. The input power is then turned off to zero.
E-Cat input and output power October 6, 2011. Graph: Eric Hustedt
After the input power is turned off, notice the output power eventually reaches a maximum of 8 kilowatts. After a short decline, there are two more instances of increased output power, with a final decline after which the demonstration is ended.
The total area underneath the power output curve appears greater than the total area underneath the input power curve. Therefore, we conclude that excess heat was generated. However, the up-and-down nature of the power generated may show possible instability. Until reports from scientists who attended the demonstration are released, these musings are merely speculations.
One of the best features of cold fusion research is that there are many such systems that generate excess heat, not just nickel and hydrogen.
Excess heat graph for Pd-D system from JET EnergyHere you can see a graph of excess heat production from a palladium-deuterium system from Dr. Mitchel Swartz‘ Jet Energy, Inc. lab using his Phusor.
Notice the blue line of the output power is above the red graph of the input power. The difference in height of the two curves represents the excess heat energy generated; the Phusor cell is producing more energy than it is consuming.
The LENR-CANR Library contains thousands of papers from scientists worldwide investigating the properties of multiple types of similar energy-producing systems. Editor Jed Rothwell has a graph from Dr. Michael McKubre‘s lab at SRI International on the homepage.Excess heat graph for Pd-D system from SRI presented at ICCF10 For this palladium-deuterium system, a steady increase in measured current (in red) is compared with no increase in electrical current using a hydrogen and palladium system (in blue) control cell.
Both Dr. Swartz and Dr. McKubre are just two cold fusion researchers who have repeatedly witnessed the creation of large amounts of energy in small, tabletop ‘cells’ that use a fuel of hydrogen and/or its isotopes, and various transition metals as host to the reaction. There are many other labs, and many other scientists on the verge of unlocking the power of these systems. The enigmatic theory behind the effect may elude researchers, but the results are empirical and undeniable despite mainstream science’s refusal to acknowledge this field.
Mr. Rossi is the first to bring this science into the realm of a usable technology. Yet, even among the cold fusion community, ostracized as it is from conventional scientific circles, Mr. Rossi is an outsider, criticized for lacking discipline and method. Tensions are elevated as the emotional investment over two decades, with a corresponding lack of financial support, has reached the limit of tolerability, and the need for this technology is so great.
27 kilowatt E-Cat module. Photo: video frame by Mats Lewan
You don’t like those ideas? I got others. –Marshall McLuhan
The fact is there is no map outlining the process of rolling out a revolutionary breakthrough technology. The personal computer was dispersed into the population under the noses of Mainframe, Inc. by two young guys with their parents in the next room. The New Fire is emerging from a just-as-unconventional lone inventor who plays jazz drums and knows a good samba when he hears it.
Early steam engine diagram scanned from single sheet bought for $1.
Yes, this engineer of The New Fire demonstrates the energy of humanity’s future using a carburetor-sized heat exchanger, bathroom scales, and duc tape. A perfect scientific method performed on ideal spheres has encountered the spontaneity of jazz drums and electric tweets in a science fiction environment of artificial intelligence so pervasive it goes unnoticed. Science is being done in a world-wide lab where all times are happening at once.
Marrying high and low technologies from various ages has a name – Steampunk. The Steampunk artist rides the collision of centuries and translates that reality into objects that fuse hand-made efforts with factory-made design and modern electronics.
Steampunk Computer Photo: Steampunkworkshop.comAs our world is increasingly medievalized with parochial legislation and stiffened standards attempting to prop-up a declining civilization, Steampunk retrieves the early industrial efforts before fossil fuels, painting the Josephson junctions and digital chips with a veneer of human scale.
Steam Punk Andrea Rossi has brought world attention to a new energy technology that is in its first stages of actuality and which draws on the simple elements of hydrogen from water and a metal powder that combine to create a powerful energy that defies conventional theories of “modern” physics promising clean, abundant energy for the whole world.
Whether the device demonstrated on October 6 generated power of X kilowatts or Y kilowatts pales to the fact that we have a new energy technology – confirmed by science – that needs support for development, and promptly.
It is our best chance for a technological future on Earth.
