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5 big alt-energy letdowns: Ideas that sounded good but... [excerpt]
Katherine Harmon
Scientific American

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Cold fusion
Also from the realm of the theoretically dubious, cold fusion (or low energy nuclear reaction) has had a hazy history since it was first reported in 1989. The process, which allegedly created an unexpected burst of heat in an experiment by electrochemists Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons at the University of Utah, apparently occurred when some heavy water (water that contained extra hydrogen isotopes called deuterium), was zapped with electricity by an electrode made of palladium (a rare metal). So far it hasn't been replicated to satisfy either the scientific community or the Department of Energy, leaving this type of fusion's future out in the cold for now.

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