Some good news!!

envo said:
This could actually explain the $20 drop in the oil price in the last few months... get the "drug" that is oil nice and cheap so people depend on it for longer because "why invest in something that will cost so much when we already have cheap energy"
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No that's pretty much because:

- the US has massively ramped up oil production after new technology made doing so much cheaper than occupying hostile countries (public opinion against military incursions also contributes here)

- Saudi Arabia is refusing to cut production as they can afford a deficit for a few years. This will hurt smaller producers more potentially increasing their share.

- "Peak Oil" did not happen as even though some oil is becoming harder to extract technology has made that irrelevant.

- Cheap gas is being found everywhere driving the overall price of energy down.
 
If true, this is really, really good news. Sadly, I think there is a lot of (investor attracting) hype and it also derives from the profit-mad Americans. If there is anything to this, it will be obscenely expensive and out-of-reach of 3rd world countries (who need it most).

As well, the oil lobby is powerful and oil interest groups will fight viciously to retain their hegemony. Fusion power (at this stage of development) is fragile and easily defeated by big oil. However, I live in hope.
 
Packer said:
If true, this is really, really good news. Sadly, I think there is a lot of (investor attracting) hype and it also derives from the profit-mad Americans. If there is anything to this, it will be obscenely expensive and out-of-reach of 3rd world countries (who need it most).

As well, the oil lobby is powerful and oil interest groups will fight viciously to retain their hegemony. Fusion power (at this stage of development) is fragile and easily defeated by big oil. However, I live in hope.
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If this works, it will be orders of magnitude cheaper than any other energy source available to humankind. Furthermore such an invention is simply too important for big oil and friends to crush. Lockheed Martin is the largest defence contractor in the USA - they wouldn't be allowing this announcement to be made unless they had some faith in the project, and that implies they are more than willing to take on big oil.

I'm obviously skeptical until there's a working prototype that outputs more energy than it takes in - but it would be quite ironic if the world's largest defence contractor ended up being responsible for the solution to humankind's energy problems for good.
 
ToxicBunny said:
The fact that its still in the incredibly early stages of the research, and this seems to be a pump to try get investors..

There is no real fusion reactor yet... a prototype is at least 5 years away, if the research proves feasible.
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Skunkworks would be claiming that they can do it (and ~45 years faster than expected) unless they were very sure...

Definitely seems like a game changer.
 
Very exciting.

I hope it doesn't turn out to be another Fleishman and Pons.

If real, the oil companies can't possibly stop it. It's much more worrying for OPEC.
 
People confusing this with cold fusion...?
 
No. It's of course not the same as CF. But we remember the great excitement back then. That came to naught. Just going this isn't overhyped.

I'm a longtime admirer of Lockheed Skunkworks.
 
HavocXphere said:
Skunkworks would be claiming that they can do it (and ~45 years faster than expected) unless they were very sure...

Definitely seems like a game changer.
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The way this seems to be done is as an invitation for investment...

They are confident that their idea will work, without a doubt, but whether it actually will is a different story entirely. Until a prototype is generating a sufficient quantity more power than it consumes and is relatively safe, I'll remain skeptical.
 
The_Assimilator said:
If this works, it will be orders of magnitude cheaper than any other energy source available to humankind. Furthermore such an invention is simply too important for big oil and friends to crush. Lockheed Martin is the largest defence contractor in the USA - they wouldn't be allowing this announcement to be made unless they had some faith in the project, and that implies they are more than willing to take on big oil.

I'm obviously skeptical until there's a working prototype that outputs more energy than it takes in - but it would be quite ironic if the world's largest defence contractor ended up being responsible for the solution to humankind's energy problems for good.
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Another ‘positive’ attribute is that if America can restrain their profit motive and this is genuine (and designs are wide banded on the Internet, say), America will go down in the history books as bringing cheap energy to the world.

This is a more abstract concept than short-term profit, but will ensure that America is well regarded by posterity long after the American empire is defunct. Worth it (IMO) for America in the long run. Make a mark and leave a positive legacy.
 
Garyvdh said:
Eish, been waiting for this announcement pretty much all of my life... what's the catch?
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Like all others working fusion reactors they don't have a sustainable working product.

They should all get back to us the day they have a feasible product, that's gonna be a great day.
 
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