Hello Cheap Energy, Hello Brave New World

Mark Gibbs
Forbes
17.10.2011

Over on Network World where I’ve had a gig as a columnist for about 18 years, in my Backspin column I wrote about a power generation system this week called E-Cat which is to be tested on October 28th.

If you’ve missed the recent brouhaha over the E-Cat (which stands for Energy Catalyzer), you’re missing out on a three ring circus over a technology that will either change everything or change nothing because what is promised is, in theory, power too cheap to be worth metering.

The E-Cat is a simple device albeit with functioning that defies all known explanations.

In summary, the E-Cat is a cold fusion (CF) device (the inventor, Andrea Rossi, prefers to term the technology “Low Energy Nuclear Reaction” which appears to be the same thing as CF but a less contentious phrasing). I’ll refer you to my Network World column for a more long-winded explanation of the background and theories about the device.

Read more: Hello Cheap Energy, Hello Brave New World

Test of Rossi’s 1 MW E-Cat fusion system apparently successful

wattsupwiththat.com
October 28, 2011

Guest post by Ric Werme

Today is the customer test of Andrea Rossi’s 1 MW fusion reactor in his facility in Bologna, Italy. While Rossi initially expected to provide streaming video of the test, the customer nixed that because they didn’t want their people on a public video. (The customer has still not been identified.) Rossi also promised hourly updates during the test, but that didn’t happen, nor did I expect it too. In any major customer attending test, you just don’t take time off for that – the customer is far more important today than is the rest of the world!

I did promise in Tips & Notes to create this post this evening to provide a discussion forum, and a few details have made it out to warrant this post.

Bottom line – the customer will buy the reactor. The only thing that looks like a data point is that it was producing 470kW with zero heating power in (self-sustain mode). Given that one metric for a successful test was to produce at least 6X the input power, it certainly passes that test!

Read more: Test of Rossi’s 1 MW E-Cat fusion system apparently successful