The World in 2030

236 The World in 2030
technology in the longer-term future. The most famous (or
infamous) of these is ‘cold fusion’, 451 a theoretical concept
which suggests that fusion-power (the same nuclear reaction
process that fuels the sun) might be achievable at close to
room temperature. What was seemingly a false alarm about
such a process being achieved galvanised the scientific
community in 1989 and, since that attempt was proved a
failure, few scientists have wanted to admit they are working
in such a controversial field.
However, in a 2001 book called ‘The Scientist, The Madman,
The Thief and Their Lightbulb,’ author Keith Tutt 452 writes
the following about the cold fusion episode:
Was that really the end of the story, though? And was
it the true story? If so, why are laboratories in at least
eight countries still spending millions on cold fusion
research? And, if cold fusion is impossible, how can
it be that there are hundreds of documented experiments
which demonstrate that cold fusion effects are
real? How can it be that there is continually stronger
evidence that a small group of scientists have already
gone a long way towards a commercial, viable power
source? Is it possible that parts of the scientific establishment
acted to stamp out a technology which
promised so much? 453
Leaving aside conspiracy theories about the (apparent)
failure of cold fusion, some highly respected scientific
organisations are now making well-publicised progress on
developing components for a full-scale, hot fusion-reactor.
Unlike today’s nuclear power stations which produce power