Andrea Rossi’s official blog “Journal of Nuclear Physics” has been quite quiet for the last couple of weeks. But when A. Casali posted a number of questions on the website, the silent spell was finally broken.
A. Casali asked direct and helpful questions including inquiries about the high price of e-cat, the industrialization of the production of the 1MW Ecat plant, the identity of the customer, and future plans for the research and development of Rossi’s technology.
Considering the importance of university research and development for the acceptance of your technology in terms of certification and authorizations, not to speak about the performance improvements that they may bring to your great invention, why are you still holding on instead of letting the R&D start?
As always Rossi was quick in clearing out most of the questions, while sticking to his mystery guns where possible. He said that nothing is holding back the R&D of the Ecat. As a matter of fact, they are already making the research and development with all their consultants. Interestingly, Rossi averred that they have already reached the stage of acceptance of their e-cat technology from their customers. He added that the customers are not interested as to who is testing the plants as long as it works properly.
We also learned from the same blog that Rossi, through his company, Leonardo Corporation, has decided to slash the cost of the e-cat device in half in a span of one year.
“At the price we apply now the 1 MW plant pays back itself in 3 years. The expected life is 30 years. Anyway, we foresee to lower the price with the increase of the orders, to allow more economy scale. Our target is to arrive within the year to 1000 Euro/kW,”
Rossi said.
A. Casali also asked about the industrialization of the production of e-cat to which Rossi said that they are currently working on, while admitting that the said process is going to affect the current price of the technology.
The ECAT’s full knowledge is still hidden behind some close doors, but its inventor slowly opens up, and reveals more and more about it every day.
Roger Bird
December 10, 2011
1000 Euro/kW equals about $16,000 per household unit of 10 kW. I think I’ll wait on that one.
friendlyprogrammer
December 11, 2011
$100 units will be commonplace. There are no illegal parts so people could sell kits or blackmarket units without breaking the law. Only lawbreakers would be if you added Nickel and Hydrogen. Seriously.. what is involved in the Rossi reactor. A small narrow pipe with no moving parts except maybe a lid. They would manufacture for $10 each or less in bulk.
Despite regulation, this will be one of the most sought after technologies on the planet. Internet plans will pop up and be removed on a consistent basis, and thousands of backyard mechanics will produce these. They will pop up like pot dealers, and none of the items for construction are illegal. (If the police even found a house selling them, the owner could just say it is for some other kind of fusion research)Reactors have no moving parts except for loading Nickel, and honestly can probably be mass produced for under $10 each from what we have seen already. The shielding and piping, and generators, and everything else can also be replicated for reasonable prices. I think the black market will be the number one competition here, and it would be wrong to assume any “secrets” will not soon be exposed. How many billions of dollars are spent on research of green technologies already? Are all these divisions of green energy like wind power, solar power, sea power, etc. going to continue their research after this technology is accepted. Probably not. Why would anyone want a windmill when we just created efficient electricity/hydrogen/heat from Nickel without any waste? Nobody will. It will be a dead business, as will most of the other research facilities.Many of these unemployed scientists (the ones who don’t develop black market ecats), are going to need a new thing to research, and voilà – many of them will end up researching Fusion. Things will improve at rates nobody can comprehend on this front. I will probably see Nickel powered flashlights within ten years, that have reactors, and electricity generation inside. Tiny hand held units.It is amazing how little protection most governments can offer against black market items, and Fusion “kits” sold over the internet.The only way to curb black market is to make these affordable. If a reactor cost $10 to mass produce then don’t charge the people $1000. Many kids will start building these in their back yards, and many may get hurt.There is not much to these reactors, and the catalysts will be improved upon and will not remain secrets for very long.
gérard
December 13, 2011
Cold Fusion: A Resurrection and an Inconvenient Truth (A view from Europe)
Submitted by French reader Gerard Briand, a self described “self-taught thinker” and a professional in the field of building and construction. Many thanks to Claude Thiebaut who assisted with the translation.
Since the cold fusion of Andrea Rossi faces the dogmas of science, political conservatism and obscurantism from established energy interests, is Rossi’s strategy of fait accompli and the evidence that has been provided so far sufficient to impose the obvious technology?If we refer to the ancient history of science and recent cold fusion claims by Pons and Fleischmann (1989), we see that we should not lack the character to tackle the certainties and defend the violent attacks from all sides. Cold fusion has already suffered severe consequences by being dragged through the mud, but perhaps now the whole environment has changed since we live in very different times..In these events we must not see only the dark hand of conspiracy; there are also professional careers devoted to the hot fusion field with theoretical convictions about nuclear energy, educational and research programs, brilliant applications of nuclear energy, all involving much money. It is very human to be destabilized by challenges to a lifetime of work and an understanding of physics that has been established by the fathers. It can therefore be easy to deny, in collusion with parallel interests, the evidence of the implementation of the process of cold fusion.Mr. Rossi and others are fighting against the dogma of a majority of scientists and politicians, media and major energy interests that would be put at a competitive disadvantage if cold fusion “finally came out of the woods.” But I think yes, they are on track, the battle has just begun and recognition in the public arena will take time. The most violent charges are yet to come, so we must turn to the forces of progress and credible personalities who will validate the technology.I am now convinced of the validity of the concept of cold fusion, and there is no doubt that a new game is in progress, certainly much more violent than in the Pons and Fleischmann case. With the recent advances of Andrea Rossi, it is clear that it will be difficult. The suspicion of fraud is strong, and diverse and varied interests who fear of losing credibility and the dogmatic stance about the laws of physics are a major barrier. But the needs are such that it will tip the balance, I hope.Mr Andrea Rossi, a great strategist, understands that the best angle is to popularize the revolutionary concept of cold fusion. He can expect little help from conservative European powers often in the pay of lobbies, including nuclear power in France, but also at home in Italy.The huge financial investment in programs such as ITER are the mark of submission of the European powers to the interests of energy producers who want to keep the energy monopoly that made it so powerful. It also helps fill the coffers of nations when they are shareholders, with whole populations subjects of this monopoly. This great collusion of interests, intentional or not, results from the dogmas of experts and serves to stifle competition.In Greece, Defkalion takes the rear, with or without the support of Rossi, and creates a positive competition that might be called “energy democracy”. At the same time still in the strategy of fait accompli Rossi moves his project in the United States on several levels. He bets on the entrepreneurial spirit of America and a market traditionally always ready for major innovations as evidenced by Tesla and Edison. The US is also less subject to nuclear power and has an awareness that their oil lobbies are at an end. The endless rise in fuel and energy prices along with the global crisis, plays into Rossi’s hands. The current administration’s policies supporting alternative energy, in comparison with “Bush oil dynasty,” can probably help, directly or indirectly by accelerating the recognition of cold fusion.Today Mr. Andrea Rossi took checkmate in the first round; he has played against the blank face of financial interests of certainty in scientific dogma and advances. If other parts of the world will come and support us to make the switch permanently to a new energy era, their needs may such that they will tip the scales in favor of the “Holy Grail” of energy.This would result in a chaotic period as was experienced in the last industrial revolution, we can not escape the brutal technological breakthroughs and the abandonment of “new technologies” such as ITER, made obsolete by Rossi’s cold fusion.