Limitless, cheap power from water (maybe?)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/renewable/Story/0,2763,1627425,00.html

[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Guardian Unlimited: "It seems too good to be true: a new source of near-limitless power that costs virtually nothing, uses tiny amounts of water as its fuel and produces next to no waste. If that does not sound radical enough, how about this: the principle behind the source turns modern physics on its head...."

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http://digg.com/technology/Fuel_s_paradise_Power_source_that_turns_physics_on_its_head_
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Interesting article!

I will take a wait and see attitude on this one. My degree is in Physics and I'm frankly sceptical. The article is short on any hard science, so I'll wait to see how it looks when more is known.

But it sounds exciting and I don't think it's nothing, I just don't think it's really going to turn theoretical physics upside down. I think it falls somewhere in the middle.

It sure makes for some fun anticipation. Kinda reminds me of all the hype surrounding the unveiling of the Segway. If I were to speculate I would say it will probably change our lives about as much as the Segway has.

I'm of course skeptical but it would be nice if true. Imagine buying a car that never needs to be refueled, or producing power for your home via a generator that also never needs to be refueled. Nothing I'd like more than to see big oil and the electric companies put out of business for good. Decentralized power generation means you can get rid of the ugly mess of electrical wiring everywhere as well.

In order to sustain future economic growth we really need a source of energy which is both abundant and virtually free. If this pans out we might have it.

What's that hilarious rephrasing of the 3 laws of thermodynamics?

1. You can't win
2. You can't break even
3. You can't leave the game

Everybody loves the idea of a free lunch, but there's no such thing as a free lunch.

idleprocess said:

Everybody loves the idea of a free lunch, but there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Click to expand...

Very true, although once we start talking nuclear energy instead of chemical energy it almost seems that way. Assuming cold fusion could be made to work, you could drive a car around the earth a few times on the energy in a glass of water.

It's the same classic huckster type story that's been going on for ages; particularly as regarding claims of perpetual motion and such.

Typical story:
(1) Science has been mistaken - Usually included because physics don't permit it.
(2) Claims of investors already climbing on the bandwagon.
(3) Facts and model yet to be unveiled - In this case the claim that "he claims to be just months away from unveiling his creation"

Energy from water or air is not new to the phony "free energy" scam game.

This looks to be semi-legit.

However, only In the sense that "cold fusion" was legit. These are real scientists, they have a testable theory, and they've submitted their work for peer-review.

Of course, that doesn't mean it will work. (I'd point out their work has been slammed in peer-review, BTW)

I think you're actually seeing the "cold fusion trap" at work here. Scientists outside their field of expertise are seeing effects they don't understand, or, have legitimately discovered a "new process", that indeed produces some energy. Unfortunately, scientists might assume the new effect they've discovered is now simply a matter of engineering to drive efficiency beyond the input energy needed to start the reaction.

Many honest attempts fail at that point. They may be producing some energy, but not NET ENERGY. That is key.

I'm going to bet that thermodynamics and entropy are going to get these guys in the end.