As we deal with the Rossi vs. IH lawsuit and all the debates surrounding it, I would like to turn attention for a moment towards the future, and specifically where we might first find the E-Cat used in a practical application. Andrea Rossi was asked about this on the Journal of Nuclear Physics recently: “Which will be the first market sector that you will hit mostly at the beginning, which, if I have understood, is now ?”
Andrea Rossi responded: “Centralized heating”
I don’t think Rossi means here “central heating” which is found in many homes, since he says that domestic certification has not been granted yet. I think he refers here to “district heating” (sometimes referred to as “teleheating”), in which multiple buildings are heated from steam or hot water that is distributed via pipes from a central heat source. Typically district heating systems use gas, coal or biomass as the fuel source, but if the E-Cat can produce steam and/or hot water at the needed temperatures at a fraction of the fuel costs, it would be an obvious application of Rossi’s technology.
If I were to make a guess, I would think that Sweden would be where the first E-Cat district heating systems will be installed. Rossi has said that he wants to start manufacturing in Sweden, and he has been working closely with Hydro Fusion over the last few years who operate out of Sweden. Regarding the prevalence of district heating in Sweden here is some data from Wikipedia:
Sweden has a long tradition for using teleheating in urban areas. In 2015, about 60% of Sweden’s houses (private and commercial) were heated by district heating, according to the Swedish association of district heating.[53] The city of Växjö reduced its fossil fuel consumption by 30% between 1993 and 2006, and aimed for a 50% reduction by 2010. This was to be achieved largely by way of biomass fired teleheating.[54] Another example is the plant of Enköping, combining the use of short rotation plantations both for fuel as well as for phytoremediation.[55]
47% of the heat generated in Swedish teleheating systems are produced with renewable bioenergy sources, as well as 16% in waste-to-energy plants, 7% is provided by heat pumps and 6% by industrial waste heat recovery. The remaining are mostly fossil fuels oil, natural gas, peat, and coal.[56]
Because of the law forbidding landfills,[57] waste is commonly used as a fuel.
United Kingdom[edit]
So I think district heating could certainly be an excellent early application for E-Cat heat. Rossi has said that the low temperature E-Cat plants are ready to be deployed (although not yet in mass production), and if they can operate at a COP of 50, the fuel savings should be tremendous. For many communities any way to reduce the amount of burning fossil of fuels or biomass will be seen as a great advantage, and one would assume that if the industrial certification is apparently already obtained for the E-Cat, district heating would fit an industrial use since existing plant operators will already have the staff on hand to operate the E-Cats.
I must stress this is just an educated guess on my part, but it makes sense to me based on what I have learned so far.
