E-cat inventor in live chat with readers (Andrea Rossi, "cold fusion" inventor answers questions)

NyTeknik ^ | Mar 11, 2011 | Mats Lewan

[Normandy]

Questions poured in when the Italian engineer, Andrea Rossi, the inventor of the so-called 'energy catalyzer' which may be based on cold fusion, met with Ny Teknik's readers in a live chat. Read all questions and answers here.

Rossi's 'energy catalyzer' was shown to an invited audience in Bologna in January 2011 and produces heat by an unknown reaction. The reactor of the device is loaded with nickel powder in the presence of secret catalysts, and pressurized with hydrogen.

Question: Dear mr Rossi! When can I buy a small energy-catalyst machine at about 7-15 kW to temperate my house? What will it cost? Are you going to construct a machine (for ex with a Stirling machine) which also can produce electricity enough for the private household? / Åke Östlund

Rossi: To produce Energy Catalyzers (E-Cat from now) for the households, it takes time for the necessary certifications. This is the reason why we are starting from industrial applications, or even centralized thermal energy distribution systems: in these applications the authorizations are less difficult, because the plants are operated by skilled professionals. Yes, we are also designing electric power systems, which use the well known cycles: Carnot Cycle, Stirling, etc. As for the costs, we foresee 1 cent per kWh for the electric energy, 0,3 cents per thermal kWh, 2.000 Euro per kW of power.

[Normandy]

Interesting Q&A session with the inventor of what he sees as a breakthrough energy technology.

[Hodar]

Thank you ....

This is going to revolutionize the world.

[freebilly]

produces heat by an unknown reaction

Let me know when someone figures out how it works. Until then it has scam written all over it....

[Jack Hammer]

One question only: is cold fusion a practical, workable reality?

One has visions of the “Mr. Fusion” reactor mounted on the hood of Dr. Emmett Brown’s automobile.....

[DManA]

I hope so. Either way, he isn’t using tax dollars to fund it. And the fact that he’s has convinced private investors to put their own money into it adds instant credibility in my mind.

[DManA]

Someone pointed out that thermal dynamics was not understood when the first steam engines were invented either.

[sionnsar]

“secret catalysts”?

[Izzy Dunne]

1 cent per kWh for the electric energy

Why that's almost "too cheap to meter^©"!

[freedomlover]

"Let me know when someone figures out how it works. Until then it has scam written all over it...."

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Here is the formula:

[Izzy Dunne]

It breaks some classic rules of physics. And this unfortunately will raise resistance in the process of acceptation

OK, I'll grant that the laws of physics are not known 100.0000000%. However..........

[DManA]

I guess I'm wrong about the investors, never mind. (no tax dollars though):

Rossi: All these systems sound more Flash Gordon than real. None of these systems exists in the world able to produce 10 kWh/h, as we did and as we are doing. Besides, consider that: all the money spent up to now has been my money.

Furthermore: we are not searching venture capital, we want to sell our energy, taking upon us all the risks, we are paying for all the R&D activity, we are not asking money from anyone.

[cripplecreek]

Pssst

Can I hook you up with a perpetual motion machine?

[freebilly]

True, dat, and this is a little different than heating water in a boiler by burning coal.

But I won’t jump on the bandwagon until the patent application is granted and others, besides the inventor, can replicate the results and show practical applications....

[PapaBear3625]

One promising sign is that the inventor is planning on building plants himself and selling the energy, which is what I would expect from somebody who really had something.

I'm interested in what we will see from this guy once he builds his pilot plant.

[freebilly]

LOL!

[dila813]

Even Baking Soda and Vinegar produce heat, I wouldn’t get too excited.

[Hodar]

So far, he indicates that he has used his own money to R&D this, as well as build what has been done. With the University of Bologna endorsing him - he’s got mounds of credability in my book.

I hope the International Patents get issued, but either way - this is going to revolutionize the world. Heat your home for 0.003 cents per KW of heat, electrical costs of around 1 cent/KWR.

More power available, means that our dependance on foreign oil for POWER is going to plummet. With that plummet, we will only need power for gas for our cars - then as battery technology increases - we can tell the Arabs to eat sand.

[cripplecreek]

We can’t even get full scale total home powering fuel cell technology yet and we actually know the technology exists.

[DManA]

Yup. The market will decide, as it should.

[Sherman Logan]

Let me know when someone figures out how it works.

We don't really need to know how it works, only that it does work. Which hasn't been proven yet either, AFAIK.

Maybe he's accidentally found a loophole in the laws of physics.

It is also quite likely that even if this reaction does produce a net energy gain, the gain will be too small to function as a practical source of energy.