> Enough blatherspeak. How much are they selling a unit for at Home Depot?
That is my position on this too. As the saying goes: "Show me the money". I'll believe it when I can buy a device and call my electric company to disconnect service. (Keep in mind that, assuming it works, the device will need to be evaluated to determine if it is safe enough for installation in a private residence.)
With that in mind, I like to follow "free energy" news and debunk the technologies (one of my videos: http://tinyurl.com/3f47bes ). So far I have held back from debunking Rossi's E-Cat (Energy Catalyzer) device because of two simple facts:
1. He is the first and only Cold Fusion guy I know of who has said that his technology is "commercial ready" and he will finish constructing a 1 Megawatt power plant in October 2011. This 1 MW plant will NOT generate electricity; instead it will generate heat for industrial uses. Rossi says that he will not charge for the devices in the plant. Instead he will only charge for the actual energy generated and provided to the clients.
2. I have never seen him solicit funding. According to the reports I'm reading, Rossi has sold many of his own assets to finance his research and the 1 MW power plant, though I have no means to verify this. If someone knows how to track down his assets and verify this, please let me know.
I have been following the news of this Cold Fusion / LENR by Rossi for some time now and am still skeptical, but hopeful. I did read Rossi's paper and played around with the math a bit. His paper reads like a a novel that is missing the last chapter *doh!*. That last missing "chapter" is the final piece of the theory of how the device really works and what, extactly the atomic process is that releases energy.
Going beyond that statement, I must add that we currently use many technologies that are not really understood beyond the fact that they work. As an example, next time you fill a prescription at the pharmacy, take the time to read that folded piece of paper with the extremely small type. You will find a section that is devoted to explaining how, exactly, the medication works. For most medications this section basically says in so many words: "We have NO idea how or why it works, we just know it does work".
> It would make him and all of his colleages INCREDIBLY rich with patents and the inevitable Nobel prize,
This is the reason why he has so far refused to publicly release information about his "secret sauce" (the internal design of the reactor and a catalyst that he claims makes the device work). He is currently trying to patent the method and apparatus. The patent office has so far been reluctant to issue a patent because of a standing policy to dismiss all "cold fusion" claims as frivolous.
http://www.journal-of-nuclear-physics.com/files/Patent_WO-2009-125444.pdf
Bottom line:
I’m just going to sit back and wait for October to see if he really does start selling the devices.