Posted on 01/31/2014 5:44:59 PM PST by Kevmo
Start-up purchases controversial cold fusion nuclear reactor E-cat - Let's see if it works
01/26/2014
A North Carolina based company called Industrial Heat LLC has come out and admitted that it now owns Andrea Rossi’s ecat low energy nuclear reaction (LENR) technology. Industrial Heat has put out a press release in which it confirmed rumors that it had spent $11 million to purchase Rossi’s device.
The press release also confirmed speculation that Tom Darden of Cherokee Investment Partners a North Carolina equity fund is a principal investor in Industrial heat. It stated that one of Darden’s associates J.T. Vaughn is the manager of Industrial Heat LLC. Industrial Heat LLC is based in the Research Triangle region around Raleigh, North Carolina where many technology companies have operations. Cherokee’s website describes Vaughn as a Senior Analyst at the firm.
Vaughn said that his company had acquired the intellectual property rights to the Ecat in the press release. Vaughn and Darden were convinced of the Ecat’s authenticity by a report prepared by physics professors Guiseppe Levi, Hanno Essen, Ronald Petterson, Torbojorn Hartman, Bo Hoistad, Roland Pettersson and Lars Tegner. The scientists tested the ecat in December 2012 and March 2013 and observed its operations. Vaughn and Darden also had an unidentified independent expert exam the ecat before investing their money in it.
The press release stated that Industrial Heat has prepared numerous patent applications to protect ecat technology but wouldn’t’ elaborate. The release didn’t say if any of these applications have been filed or not.
“The world needs a new, clean and efficient energy source,” Vaugh said of his reasons for acquiring Ecat in the press release. “Such a technology would raise the standard of living in developing countries and reduce the environmental impact of producing energy.”
The press release stated that Industrial Heat wants to enter into partnerships with other companies, universities and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to develop LENR technology. It didn’t identify any of these partners or mention any specific uses for Ecat technology.
Predictably and sadly the cold fusion skeptics have already started attacking Industrial Heat. The Gizmodo blog is claiming that Darden and Vaughn were bamboozled and bought a reactor that might not actually work. Typically the skeptics provide absolutely no proof for their accusations they just make them and hope nobody questions their statements. Those who criticize Rossi for not verifying claims turn around and do exactly the same thing.
Tom Darden
Vaughn and Darden seem like hardhead and sensible businessmen who have done their homework. They actually looked into Ecat and got the facts before investing. Gizmodo mentions Rossi’s criminal conviction but doesn’t mention the involvement of distinguished professors such as Guiseppe Levi in the ecat project.
Industrial Heat’s confirmation is very good news, despite the skeptics. It’s the biggest investment so far in cold fusion and it proves there are far sighted businessmen interested in commercializing this important technology. Hopefully Industrial Heat will be able to commercialize the Ecat and looking into other LENR devices such asthose at Brillouin.
I also hope that Industrial Heat’s brave stand will inspire other investors to put their money behind low energy nuclear reaction. We need massive investment in this technology now.
I bought Storms book in spite of (or maybe because of) his freebie "Students Guide(s) to Cold Fusion".
Who cares what round?
If this eCat thing actually works/worked, all the capital possibly needed would be banging the doors down. The secrecy and failure to meet their own deadlines for demonstrations is not “good business,” and it certainly isn’t science.
I guess we will get to see what $11 million buys.
(How is this transaction verified?)
“7 independent scientists validated ROssi’s claims.” You’ve made many such claims...all have failed to materialize. How about that claim you made that Rossi would allow independent verification: Hasn’t happened yet.
***
Third Party Report of Anomalous Heat in ECat Reactor and Critique
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3038206/posts
Tue 02 Jul 2013 08:41:18 AM PDT · by Wonder Warthog · 26 replies
arXiv.org ^ | 7 June 2013 | Giuseppe Levi
LENR is nothing compared to the potential of perpetual motion.
“Thousands have been sold”...*snicker*, we all knew that one was a whopper.
***I don’t recall that one. Rossi made a big deal about supposedly selling just one 1MW plant. When his claims appeared to be vaporware, I stopped posting “Rossi says” threads on FR. Haven’t posted one in over 2 years. But that hasn’t stopped the skeptopaths from arguing All Rossi, All the Time.
“We’ll see” was said for more than 50 years for Controlled Hot Fusion, and yet the CHF corner-turn is still 50 years from now. Those CHF guys are far better con men than Rossi ever could be. But do we see you loudly squawking on CHF threads? Nope. Because it has a high AdamHenryBandWagon index.
There are all kinds of scams in this world where someone lost tons of dough.
***And we taxpayers have been scammed of hundreds of $billions on CHF but we don’t see you squawking about it on those threads. Because the AdamHenryBandWagon index is high for CHF, low for LENR.
The secrecy and failure to meet their own deadlines for demonstrations is not “good business,” and it certainly isn’t science.
***I agree. But Rossi had his device independently tested pretty much at the time he said he would, so he was only late by a couple of months on that one. I can see reasons for secrecy since there are real problems protecting that IP. I think Defkalion basically stole Rossi’s design, for instance. But Rossi ain’t a scientist; he’s an engineer with black boxes to sell. So I have given up expecting good science from him. We won’t see that until well after he’s sold his thousandth unit. Why should he open kimono now? It’s not in his own interest.
The hot fusion guys have results, accomplishments, and open science for all to see. Rossi has nothing but over 4 years of broken promises.
You, yourself, have been on FR for over 4 years squawking that Rossi has sold something to one group or another, promised an open analysis, etc, etc, etc. For over 4 years, yet...nothing.
Fusion reactor research has had massive discoveries and has been open to ever single one of them to scientific verification. Rossi and hos cold fusion has had nothing open or to show.
If he actually has something (big if)
- He should open it up to the iBankers to fund/build a real business around it.
The hot fusion guys have results, accomplishments, and open science for all to see.
***I agree that their science has been open, but the results and accomplishments amount to absolutely nothing. Hundreds of $Billions pissed down a fraud rathole.
Cold fusion 14 orders of magnitude more cost effective than CHF.
-————www.mail-archive.com/vortex-l@eskimo.com/msg85822.html———
Rossi has nothing but over 4 years of broken promises.
***First, comparing the entirety of CHF fraud to Rossi’s broken promises is an apples-to-oranges fallacy because Rossi is ONE man and the CHF guys are thousands. Second, Rossi is SELLING his IP; no one wants the CHF garbage. Third, 4 years of broken promises is NOTHING compared to 50 YEARS of broken promises. Your arguments are complete baloney.
You, yourself, have been on FR for over 4 years squawking
***My first cold fusion post was June 2009, before Rossi showed up on the scene.
that Rossi has sold something to one group or another,
***Horse manure. I post an article, that doesn’t mean that the article is saying what I say.
promised an open analysis, etc, etc, etc. For over 4 years, yet...nothing.
***He generated an open analysis with 7 independent scientists last year, and this year he’s openly working with a venture capitalist. That is FAR from nothing, and far FROM the results the CHF fraud boys have generated.
Fusion reactor research has had massive discoveries
***Like what? If you pour hundreds of $billions into ANYthing, you’ll get some discoveries. But absolutely nothing useful and the corner-turn is STILL 50 years away.
and has been open to ever single one of them to scientific verification. Rossi
***Look here, sparky. Rossi ain’t a scientist. He’s an engineer with a black box to sell. Just like the Wright brothers. Industry is ahead of mainstream science.The difference is that the Wright brothers were allowed a patent on their invention, while LENR guys are routinely denied it. The Wrights were told by Scientific American that their article would not be published because their results were impossible. So the first scientific journal to publish the Wright brothers’ results was a beekeeping journal.
and hos cold fusion has had nothing open or to show.
***Rossi’s cold fusion is backed by 7 independent PHD scientists and now a legitimate venture capitalist. That is FAR from “nothing to show”. Rossi ain’t a scientist, so it is absurd to expect him to open kimono unless he has IP protection. Your arguments are so ludicrous that it begs the question of how serious you are about them.
I gather I do not understand your point.
First, what do you mean by iBankers?
Second, what does their business model do for someone like Rossi that a Venture Capitalist firm like Cherokee/IndustrialHeat does not? What is the difference?
Third, what do you mean a “real business”? If iBankers are a 2nd round financing type of operation, they do not invest in industrial research, they invest in things that are in production. By the time Rossi’s stuff is in production with publicly admitted customers, getting a chunk of his action will be in the tens of $billions, not $millions. Because they would need to compete against everyone else including the original company that’s making money hand over fist.
So what is the value add?
Investment banking = ibank (and yes VC is a form of investment banking)
Investment bankers turn ideas into well funded businesses. Rossi does not have a good business plan, and does not have the resources to execute one (if he had one).
$11 million is a drop in the bucket, compared to what is possible and perhaps needed here to get into production. (assuming the ecat works)
Forget going public with the IP - get iBankers convinced, privately, and all the resources to roll these things out like toasters would be at Rossi’s disposal.
There are only a few reasons that Rossi and friends have not taken this path. None of the reasons are good news for Rossi and his investors.
Again, we will get the chance to see if ‘hundreds’ of ecats can be produced that actually transform energy to a usable form economically. Based on Rossi’s choices and history so far, i doubt we will see any breaking news on ecat installations.
Broadly, I think that LENR is on a path of development similar to those of steam engines, electric motors, and manned rockets. Although the underlying physical phenomena were long recognized, it took decades of effort by many minds and hands before useful devices were invented and the essential scientific principles elucidated.
In those examples, a critical phase occurred at which there had been enough progress for cautious businessmen and governments to invest substantial sums for the sake of creating and benefiting from fashioning technological advances into practical devices. From the substantial investment by Cherokee Partners investment, I surmise that a model of Rossi's ECAT has been proved to be viable as an early production prototype. One or more competing devices may soon attract similar backing.
Or, as you suggest, Rossi and others are running a new version of the perpetual motion scam. On balance, I think that is unlikely.
I don’t think you really answered most of my questions. In essence and by your admission, Cherokee is an iBanker. At this point, iBankers are involved.
How is that rollout of ecats coming with that 11 million dollar investment?
Do you ever wonder why the big dogs don’t want a piece of this?
“Broadly, I think that LENR is on a path of development similar to those of steam engines, electric motors, and manned rockets. Although the underlying physical phenomena were long recognized, it took decades of effort by many minds and hands before useful devices were invented and the essential scientific principles elucidated.”
Unlike the others, LENR has no underlying physical phenomena that has been recognized ...
In 1989, chemists Pons and Fleischman publicly reported excess heat and small quantities of nuclear reaction byproducts in the electrolysis of heavy water using palladium electrodes. This triggered massive media interest and an energetic and successful effort by other scientists to discredit so-called "cold fusion" as being so contrary to scientific theory as to be impossible and of the realm of pseudoscience.
Yet Pons and Fleischman type devices sometimes seemed to work, leaving opponents to raise explanations for excess heat based on obscure details of calorimetry, experimental set up, and the release of the heat of crystallization of the palladium electrodes. The rare and fleeting examples of nuclear byproducts were attributed to contamination or other experimental artifacts.
Derided and without adequate funding and support, Pons and Fleischman struggled but failed to repeat and verify their original results in a fully satisfactory manner. They and their small band of allies were also unable to develop a persuasive theory to explain how "cold fusion" might even work without unsettling the tenets of nuclear science. Fleischman died in 2012, while Pons emigrated and took out French citizenship.
Yet, working in obscurity, there are researchers who have replicated and extended the Pons and Fleischman results. Moreover, it has been shown that over the decades, there were reports in the scientific literature of similar odd experimental results. Indeed, before Pons and Fleischman, the term cold fusion was used by credentialed nuclear scientists to refer to a conjectured fusion process mediated by muons.
Pons and Fleischman style cold fusion -- now rebranded as LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reaction) -- is still a pariah subject for most scientists. Yet, if the Rossi ECAT device (or any of its numerous competitors) is proved to work by credible scientific authority and succeeds in the marketplace, then it will be clear that an unconventional nuclear process can be invoked with a simple apparatus that generates nuclear transmutation and the production of useful excess heat.
My guess is that we are on the verge of such a development. If so, Pons and Fleischman will be rehabilitated and credited as scientific pioneers, with Rossi seen as having an Edisonian touch in contriving a practical device based on their work. A valid theory to explain LENR and the workings of the ECAT will probably require an exposition of nano scale effects. Notably, nano science was in its infancy when Pons and Fleischman did their original work.
I may be too optimistic, and I freely admit that I relish the prospect of the ECAT or something like it coming from the wild fringe of science to upend scientific theory and deliver a major innovation in the energy field.
“Yet, if the Rossi ECAT device (or any of its numerous competitors) is proved to work by credible scientific authority and succeeds in the marketplace, then it will be clear that an unconventional nuclear process can be invoked with a simple apparatus that generates nuclear transmutation and the production of useful excess heat.”
Rossi promised delivery of commercial/residential units in the first quarter of 2014. DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
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