As winter approaches in the northern hemisphere things are looking unusually difficult in terms of powering the economies of Europe. Steep rises in natural gas prices, and an unexpected slowdown in wind speeds have brought on a crisis that have caused some British energy retailers to go out of business, as heating and electricity bills rise across Europe.
There are consequences that go beyond just higher fuel bills. Some fertilizer plants have shut down because of the high prices of natural gas, and this has had a knock-on effect on availability of carbon dioxide, which is a by-product of fertilizer production. There are concerns from the food industry that food and drink supplies will be impacted. Carbon dioxide is used in fizzy drinks production, and used in slaughterhouses to gas and stun animals before slaughter. Also carbon dioxide is used to make dry ice which is used to keep food and medicines cold during storage and transportation.
There are many people who see a future world powered by solar and wind and advanced energy storage, but we are not there yet, and it could take decades to build the infrastructures to put these things in place. As the world tries to sever its reliance upon fossil fuels, energy crises like the current one show just how dependent we still are upon them for basic survival.
So it is somewhat ironic that a solution to many of these energy-related problems that precious few people are aware of could be in Europe as we speak and ready to emerge in cold, dark Sweden in December. The E-Cat promises to be a modern miracle technology that does away with many of the problems associated with current energy production. Fuel consumption as we know it, along with the emissions that go along with combustion would be a thing of the past. Reliance on optimum weather conditions for high levels of energy production would no longer be a problem.
Modern civilization depends upon the availability of reliable energy, and so the stakes for Andrea Rossi and his E-Cat technology are increasing. If it works as well as has been claimed, then it could lead to the easing of many of these energy-related problems. Of course there could be problems to deal with if the E-Cat were to replace current energy sources, but I think most people would be in favor of a cheaper, cleaner and a more reliable energy supply.