While the idea is kinda cool, what the heck use is cold fusion? Aside from making heavier elements, don't you kinda need it to be hot, to create steam and drive a generator?
cold fusion is about getting more out than you put in (energy that is) , without melting the planet. So cold simply means doing it without sun like temperatures.
It still creates heat - the article notes a 70 degree rise in temperature. It's just that the _initial_ temperature is relatively "cold," as opposed to the extraordinarily high temperatures long thought to be necessary for fusion to occur.
You don't necessarily need to create steam. That's good. But that's only if you plan to use a steam turbine to extract the energy.
What you need is: a temperature differential. That's what Thermodynamics requires in order to extract work from the system. More differential == better. Steam == already know how to extract the work. But there are other mechanisms.
For example, you can use a nickle/tin wire (memory wire) wound the right way around some wheels, to extract kinetic energy from coffee ... so, steam not required -- just a temperature differential between the two ends of the wheels that the memory wire is wrapped around. I'm not saying that the memory wire system is the right way to extract energy from this situation, I'm just saying: steam turbines aren't the only mechanism available.
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While the idea is kinda cool, what the heck use is cold fusion? Aside from making heavier elements, don't you kinda need it to be hot, to create steam and drive a generator?
Just me who has a problem with that, huh?
cold fusion is about getting more out than you put in (energy that is) , without melting the planet.
So cold simply means doing it without sun like temperatures.
It still creates heat - the article notes a 70 degree rise in temperature. It's just that the _initial_ temperature is relatively "cold," as opposed to the extraordinarily high temperatures long thought to be necessary for fusion to occur.
Anyway, I'll believe it when I see it.
You don't necessarily need to create steam. That's good. But that's only if you plan to use a steam turbine to extract the energy.
What you need is: a temperature differential. That's what Thermodynamics requires in order to extract work from the system. More differential == better. Steam == already know how to extract the work. But there are other mechanisms.
For example, you can use a nickle/tin wire (memory wire) wound the right way around some wheels, to extract kinetic energy from coffee ... so, steam not required -- just a temperature differential between the two ends of the wheels that the memory wire is wrapped around. I'm not saying that the memory wire system is the right way to extract energy from this situation, I'm just saying: steam turbines aren't the only mechanism available.