Cold Fusion: scientific utopia or revolution?

Despite the environmental and security risks associated with nuclear energy that I have talked about, not everything is doom and gloom. There are many innovative and interesting developments that are taking place in nuclear science which show a positive way forward. One of these developments is called cold fusion - something which has caused a massive stir in the scientific community. Cold fusion is the theory in which nuclear fusion can occur at or close to room temperature. Nuclear reactions normally occur at high temperatures, however a 1989 experiment by Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, two American scientists supposedly showed that fusion could occur at low temperatures. The experiment basically involved a chemical reaction between deuterons (stable isotopes of hydrogen) which caused the release of helium, alongside tritium (radioactive element) without causing substantial levels of radiation (Storms 2010). The most interesting thing, however, is that the two scientists conducted the experiment using quite simple equipment. A normal flask was filled with a solution of deuterium and a cube of palladium metal was inserted into the water alongside an electrical current which turned the metal into vapour and apparently caused radioactivity (see image below).

An illustration of how the initial cold fusion experiment was carried out

At first this experiment made headlines in the scientific community,  even featuring in a US government report, however as reported in 'Nature', it was quickly was dismissed as a mere joke.
Why was this the case? The reason is that many scientists repeated this experiment with varied results  and quite a few reported that there was no obvious detectable radiation present - even if there was some level of radiation, it should have led to some health consequences, but it didn't. Similarly, Platt (1989) reported in a study that not all cells present in the experiment had the same effect. Despite this scientific ruckus, such experiments are still being carried out across the world where some people have claimed success - have a look at this video below by JL Naudin who carried out a cold fusion experiment:

Benefits of Cold Fusion

Hoax or not, the theory of cold fusion could be revolutionary if proved true. Deuterium, the element used in cold fusion, is quite abundant around the world, and in the words of Daviss (2003), 'a cubic kilometre of ordinary lake or ocean water contains enough deuterium to rival the combustion energy in all the world's known oil reserves'.  Not only would it conserve oil and gas resources, it could provide a real solution to the global warming crisis (Storms 2010) as it would create no harmful gases and could lead to cheaper energy access. That could truly be a game changer for many people, especially many in the developing world in my opinion who are more susceptible to the risks of energy insecurity and climate change. Win-win situation! To some, cold fusion may still seem like a scientific utopia. However, scientists have achieved bigger things in the past so this cold fusion theory may not seem as far-fetched as first thought. Plus, it could even power our cars - that would really benefit me!