14.2 Energy Crisis in 21st Century

In the beginning of December, 1997, a Climate Change Summit was held in Kyoto, Japan. Delegates from more than 170 nations met in Kyoto to try "to hammer out a new global-warming treaty" as the Times reported (December 8, 1997). It is clear that many signs of the global-warming have been noticed; as the Times says, "melting glaciers, hotter summers and migrations of plants, animals and even deadly microbes have convinced virtually every climate scientist on earth that human activity has indeed started to warm the planet."

There is, however, no clear evidence that these anomalies are the direct result of human activity. The situation is similar to, but more complex than the cold fusion phenomenon. This ambiguity is inherent in any many-body complex system and made the Summit far more intent on hammering out a global-warming treaty.

In considering the limited sources of oil, coal, and natural gas, plus the hazardous effects of their by-products and also the limited source of nuclear fuel and the hazardous radioactive waste resulting, we must seek alternative energy sources as soon as possible. The cold fusion phenomenon is the most promising of all the known alternatives. However, the effort to develop an energy source based on the cold fusion phenomenon seems not to be very serious in most countries. The exceptions include Italy, Russia, India and China. Japan tried for four years and abandoned it in 1997 due to a lack of results. In USA, many successful trials have been demonstrated by inventors, even though the government gave up its effort to develop cold fusion in early days of 1990.

As I pointed out earlier, the relation between a science and the practical application of that science is a highly complex subject. The success of the Manhattan Project in producing the atomic bomb and the development of microelectronics on semiconductors could be influencing the national policy of many countries when it comes to the energy problem. The plasma fusion project, now synthesized into ITER project is a similar situation.

Such massive efforts as the Manhattan Project do not, as a rule, always promise success. We have to consider its success in just four years as a truly lucky case. In general, especially in many-body systems as with cold fusion materials and the Earth, a discovery does not necessarily lead directly to its application. In the case of the cold fusion phenomenon, as explained in Chapters 6 to 11, irreproducibility has disturbed the development of a cold fusion science, which is a necessary step in order to develop effective applications of the phenomenon. If the science is not established, the application has to be pursued by the trial-and-error method, as we see with current developments.

We need to establish a scientific understanding of the cold fusion phenomenon if we are going to concentrate the efforts of scientists on overcoming the severe energy problem mankind faces. I would like to appeal those who are in policy-making positions to consider the promising cold fusion applications and encourage the funding of the needed product developments.