Cold fusion in 2009.What changes?

What if tomorrow in G-8 reunion the world leaders announced that the dream of cold fusion is reality?
With cold fusion from 2009- 2010 how change our life?
 
It won't change our lives this year or next, because it would take at least a decade, if not longer, for such technology to penetrate the energy infrastructure. The promise of non-fossil-fueled electricity in large quantities will definitely change attitudes about electric vehicles. It would change attitudes.
 
If someone found a way to actually produce significant amounts of energy that way, that would be one thing.

I don't think that either Ponz or Fleischman (sp) claimed their set-ups would actually produce usable amounts of energy.

So I agree it would likely take a decade or more.
 

ninebucks

Banned
Why would the G8 announce this? Last time I checked Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi were not nuclear physicists.
 

Michael Busch

Please move to ASB on the grounds of technological implausibility (unless the announcement is some form of Big Lie).
 
Please move to ASB on the grounds of technological implausibility (unless the announcement is some form of Big Lie).

We should rephrase the announcement to move it into the realm of physics. The possible claim of a scientific breakthrough is still valid.
 

Michael Busch

We should rephrase the announcement to move it into the realm of physics. The possible claim of a scientific breakthrough is still valid.

There is never going to be a sudden announcement of 'we now have solved the energy crisis'. Outside of comic books, science doesn't work like that.
 
There is never going to be a sudden announcement of 'we now have solved the energy crisis'. Outside of comic books, science doesn't work like that.

The breakthrough is not a quick and easy solution to the energy crisis. The breakthrough is cold fusion that opens up a potential solution.
 
With either cold or hot fusion being made workable, need 10-20 years to put infrastructure up. Even so, oil producing states countries which have no other source of revenue (most of them) are in deep do-do as outside investment dries up because why invest billions in oil fields when you know that in 10-20 years or less, oil is going to be $10-20/barrel because demand for it as fuel (as opposed to chemical feedstock) is going to drop like a stone. "First world" countries are going to upgrade/computerize electric grids in anticipation to be ready when fusion plants come online, and you'll get a shift to electric cars/busses/trains as fast as manufacturers can put out usable models so that the major oil users will lead the way in dropping oil consumption. China & India will jump at this as both are oil importers. The "Third world" will come around more slowly, and they will be the last to go off petro fuel.

I'll leave the environmental benefits for somebody else. One knock-off is that the Arabs, especially the Saudis, will not have $$ to fund all the Wahhabi/Jihadist infrastructure from madrassas on up, and whakos like Chavez will be holding out tin cups rather than fuding other whaks.
 
With either cold or hot fusion being made workable, need 10-20 years to put infrastructure up. Even so, oil producing states countries which have no other source of revenue (most of them) are in deep do-do as outside investment dries up because why invest billions in oil fields when you know that in 10-20 years or less, oil is going to be $10-20/barrel because demand for it as fuel (as opposed to chemical feedstock) is going to drop like a stone. "First world" countries are going to upgrade/computerize electric grids in anticipation to be ready when fusion plants come online, and you'll get a shift to electric cars/busses/trains as fast as manufacturers can put out usable models so that the major oil users will lead the way in dropping oil consumption. China & India will jump at this as both are oil importers. The "Third world" will come around more slowly, and they will be the last to go off petro fuel.

I'll leave the environmental benefits for somebody else. One knock-off is that the Arabs, especially the Saudis, will not have $$ to fund all the Wahhabi/Jihadist infrastructure from madrassas on up, and whakos like Chavez will be holding out tin cups rather than fuding other whaks.

Except the Saudi's are not stupid and will still have megabucks to loan out for poorer countries to finance their own bootstrap to CF power. This would, however, be an opportune time for the world to tell them to clean up their act as they no longer have anyone, except those they loan money to, over a barrel. By 'clean up' I mean having more transparency as to where those megabucks go and the rest of the world having the wherewithal to enforce embargoes on them if they do not.

They can finance terrorism because a blind eye is turned. Now suddenly, all will be seen.

BTW, I do not mean that all of Saudi Arabia finances terrorism, or that they are the only state sponsors. I just used them as an example. They are many, many relatives of the House of Saud. Some of them have more money than sense as well as the power of a king and diplomatic immunity. This leads to... bad decisions.
 
Raze:

Even with oil prices where they are today the Saudis are not floating in money. If you take away the oil (and gas) industry money by dropping the price to $10+/barrel they will be hard pressed to import enough food to feed their population. Except petroleum they have no natural resources except sand, and an educational and social system that is woefully inadequate to compete in producing value added goods. The day after fusion power becomes a reality if they don't take every penny they have and invest in trying to build some sort of economic structure that doesn't rely on petrodollars funding massive government handouts, they'll be bcak to camels and tents in no time - some of the smaller gulf countries might do OK as they have gone in to finance, but that assumes the larger petro states don't decide to gobble them up in an effort to save themselves. Any money they spend on "Jihad" after fusion shows up will only hasten their demise. This alos applies to other countries who have petroleum and little else who use that moeny to disrupt things (Iran, Venezuela, etc)
 
According to the Pons/Fleischmann experiments of 1989, the main component of the cold fusion is palladium, which is located primarily in the United States, Canada, South Africa and Russia. Consider the fact that this means that the Russians now have the capacity to rebuild their ailing military and economy...
 
If a Boron-Proton Polywell works suddenly Turkey becomes the new Saudis. If Deuterium-Tritium is the reaction of choice Deuterium and Lithium become more important. As do the conventional reactors and processing facilities that can turn them into Tritium. Given its use in nuclear weapons this may lead to some problems.
 
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