IEEE Spectrum recently had an article about using sound waves to help cause fusion (sonofusion), also at or near room temperature.
"By applying sound waves to a deuterium-rich liquid, we create pressure oscillations that implode tiny bubbles filled with deuterium vapor. The bubbles' violent collapse can cause some of the deuterium nuclei to undergo fusion."
Here's hoping one of these eventually scales enough to make a significant energy contribution - but let's build more fission capacity now!
Other scientists have recently reproduced the results of the original experiments by Drs. Pons and Fleischmann in the 1980s.
Here's a link to a paper by a Dr. R. A. Oriani and Dr. J.C. Fisher dated December 2004 on this subject:
http://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/OrianiRAnuclearrea.pdf
In this paper, they describe an apparatus that seems very similar to the original Pons/Fleischmann apparatus: a linear electrolysis cell (basically a glass tube with fancy wiring) using a platinum anode and either a platinum or palladium cathode. Reactions occurred at a temperature of 60C.
They detected high-energy particles that they state must have come from a nuclear reaction (their energy was too high for them to have originated from a chemical reaction). They do not assert that "fusion" occurred, but instead state that existing nuclear theory does not describe a type of reaction that explains these results.
I've seen this reaction referred to in other places as the "Oriani effect".
So, it appears as though Pons and Fleischmann may have been on to something after all. But they chose to go public about "cold fusion" before they understood the mechanism behind their results. Since they didn't understand it, they couldn't defend it (and the scientific community gleefully eviscerated their work and reputations). Also, they could not explain why other scientists' attempts to replicate their work often failed.
As you said, hopefully one of these technologies will eventually become an economical source of energy.
I agree with your other comment about increasing fission capacity now - but I also think that biopower ("Anything into Oil") and distributed generation technology need to be aggressively developed. The more varied our sources of power are, the less vulnerable we will be to crippling blackouts.