# If cold fusion achieved, could the oil companies squash it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105 "2013-01-04T21:27:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Endopotential](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6de8d8/32.png) [@Endopotential](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Endopotential)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/1 "2013-01-04T21:27:15Z")
For all you conspiracy theorists out there… Fusion as a clean energy source potentially offers much to help our ailing planet. Let’s say some scientist was on the verge of actually achieving safe and sustainable fusion, do you think such a discovery would be met with much resistance? I can well imagine oil companies and even entire nations (esp the Middle East) have great incentives to maintain the status quo of our reliance on fossil fuels. Could you imagine scenarios where the evil powers would be able to bury a disruptive technology such as fusion? Or even in a rosier world where fusion was achieved and publicized - How do you imagine it being rolled out? It would mean a rather abrupt end to drilling, pipeline manufacturing, etc and all the jobs that go along with it. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/2 "2013-01-04T21:32:25Z")
Oil drilling would still continue even with cheap energy. Oil is more than just a fuel source, it’s used as a feedstock for all sorts of industrial processes. Furthermore, unless your cold fusion power plants have a power-to-weight ratio comparable to that of a jet engine, hydrocarbon fuels are still going to be required for air travel at the very least. The oil industry isn’t going to be greatly threatened by this invention. Coal, on the other hand, has very little use other than to generate electricity, so I would expect the coal industry to try to fight the introduction of fusion power as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/3 "2013-01-04T21:38:07Z")
How do we know they haven’t quashed\* it already. _I assume you meant quash and not squashed_\*, which is sort of how you get fusion in the first place. \*\* Yes I know, not a very good description of the physical processes involved\*\*\*. \*\*\* I just wanted to add a third note to this. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/4 "2013-01-04T21:44:18Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > How do we know they haven’t quashed\* it already. Thank-you. I can now stop pulling my hair out and screaming incoherently! 🙂 But then, maybe the OP was talking about fission and not fusion. If you squash an atom, it might split into smaller parts, no? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/5 "2013-01-04T22:08:04Z")
> [@Endopotential](#): > > I can well imagine oil companies and even entire nations (esp the Middle East) have great incentives to maintain the status quo of our reliance on fossil fuels. Could you imagine scenarios where the evil powers would be able to bury a disruptive technology such as fusion? > [@TriPolar](#): > > How do we know they haven’t quashed\* it already. This sort of thing is easy to whisper conspiratorially about, it’s much harder to propose a plausible mechanism for the quashing. > [@Endopotential](#): > > Or even in a rosier world where fusion was achieved and publicized - How do you imagine it being rolled out? It would mean a rather abrupt end to drilling, pipeline manufacturing, etc and all the jobs that go along with it. As has been said, oil is used for much more than just production of electricity. As for the rollout, it’d just be a matter of building fusion plants to connect to the power grid, and designing cars to take best advantage of the newly cheap electricity. Hydrogen fuel cells might make more sense than lithium batteries, for one. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/6 "2013-01-04T22:59:59Z")
Fusion still involves radioactive materials and produces radioactive waste. The danger is much less than that from nuclear fission plants, but most ordinary people freak out at any mention of the word radiation, and I imagine the fossil fuel industry could get pretty far with a well-orchestrated PR campaign aimed at illuminating the “Hidden Dangers of Nuclear Fusion”. Throw in the environmental movement, who generally dislike any “solution” to the fossil fuel issue that does not involve drastically reducing our energy consumption, and you’re about 75% of the way to squashing fusion. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/7 "2013-01-04T23:36:08Z")
Any oil company executive who learned about a viable cold fusion technology before anyone else would immediately cash in all of his oil company stocks and invest in cold fusion. Big oil doesn’t love oil. They love money. Besides, you can’t suppress technology. If cold fusion was invented, that means that all of the discoveries that were needed to be discovered before cold fusion is discovered, were discovered. All the groundwork is already done. When a technology ripens, you can’t stop it - if you suppress one team of researchers, a dozen more will soon pop up. ---
**Author:** ![Endopotential](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6de8d8/32.png) [@Endopotential](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Endopotential)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/8 "2013-01-05T00:41:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Big oil doesn’t love oil. They love money. - Yes, but do you think they’d happily give up on a nice big deposit of oil without squeezing it for every cent they could get? > [@Alessan](#): > > When a technology ripens, you can’t stop it - if you suppress one team of researchers, a dozen more will soon pop up. Yes, I realize that my original posting was a bit frivolous, but it was still fun and entertaining to consider the dark conspiracy scenarios. I know current fusion research is being conducted in multi-billion dollar facilities like the National Ignition Lab, and unlikely to be achieved by some lone scientist in her garage. Harder to QUASH a whole research team than just an individual. But then again, think of how Israel has been able to derail Iran’s nuclear program by assasinating key scientists… ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/9 "2013-01-05T01:06:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > _I assume you meant quash and not squashed_\*, which is sort of how you get fusion in the first place. Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t reach a state cold fusion with squash anymore than you can get it with cucumbers. [QUOTE=Endopotential] But then again, think of how Israel has been able to derail Iran’s nuclear program by assasinating key scientists… [/QUOTE] And you heard about it, didn’t you ? Oh lord, how you heard about it. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/10 "2013-01-05T01:07:21Z")
> [@Endopotential](#): > > But then again, think of how Israel has been able to derail Iran’s nuclear program by assasinating key scientists… Sure, but in the energy field, why assasinate when you can instead hire them to work _for you_ and make you a _trillio_naire… …what? There’s people who expect the arrival of cold fusion, or even zero point energy, or Tesla-style over-the-air distribution, to bring cheap energy to the dispossessed and an end to corporate profiteering?? ROTFLMFAO!!! That’s a good one… ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/11 "2013-01-05T01:30:41Z")
Let me simply point out that the first sustained controlled fission was at the University of Chicago, in an unused squash court. Just sayin’… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/12 "2013-01-05T01:31:21Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Fusion still involves radioactive materials and produces radioactive waste. The danger is much less than that from nuclear fission plants, but most ordinary people freak out at any mention of the word radiation, and I imagine the fossil fuel industry could get pretty far with a well-orchestrated PR campaign aimed at illuminating the “Hidden Dangers of Nuclear Fusion”. No, bad **Absolute**. No cookie for you. Radioactive waste isn’t a required byproduct of fusion and may not be present depending on how the technology works. And Cold Fusion was supposed to be effectively free of any dangerous radiation altogether. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/13 "2013-01-05T02:08:08Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > How do we know they haven’t quashed\* it already. > > _I assume you meant quash and not squashed_\*, which is sort of how you get fusion in the first place. > > \*\* Yes I know, not a very good description of the physical processes involved\*\*\*. > > \*\*\* I just wanted to add a third note to this. Scientists are blabbermouths. They live to let their colleagues know of their achievements. No amount of quashing would stop the inventor of cold fusion from claiming his Nobel Prize. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/14 "2013-01-05T02:37:47Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > Scientists are blabbermouths. > > They live to let their colleagues know of their achievements. > > No amount of quashing would stop the inventor of cold fusion from claiming his Nobel Prize. Ok, I think I need to change my sig to “Yes it’s a whoosh”. It’s not only the scientists, as someone already mentioned, the oil companies would just switch to controlling the fusion market. They’re not going quash it, squash it, or put the kibosh on it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/15 "2013-01-05T02:43:05Z")
Anyway, nowadays you can just publish your process on the Internet, then it becomes utterly impossible to suppress. Fleischman and Pons did just that; but, for some reason, nobody has been able to duplicate their success in producing energy with the process, which, from what I’ve heard, uses only materials and equipment available to any high-school chemistry teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/16 "2013-01-05T02:47:52Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > No, bad **Absolute**. No cookie for you. > > Radioactive waste isn’t a required byproduct of fusion and may not be present depending on how the technology works. And Cold Fusion was supposed to be effectively free of any dangerous radiation altogether. Yes, in theory, aneutronic fusion reactions exist, but the only fusion reactions that stand any chance of being commercially viable produce neutrons, which lead to neutron activation of whatever materials are nearby, and involve or produce tritium, which is mildly radioactive. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/17 "2013-01-05T03:01:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Anyway, nowadays you can just publish your process on the Internet, then it becomes utterly impossible to suppress. Fleischman and Pons did just that; but, for some reason, nobody has been able to duplicate their success in producing energy with the process, which, from what I’ve heard, uses only materials and equipment available to any high-school chemistry teacher. In the weeks following the announcement of their discovery, the experiment was repeated many times around the world, with several variations of the the original process. This resulted in the release of some exotic particles that altered the space-time continuum, and the process has never been duplicated again. Funny the way that happens. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/18 "2013-01-05T04:49:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > …from what I’ve heard, uses only materials and equipment available to any high-school chemistry teacher. Y’know, you could make a TV series out of that. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/19 "2013-01-05T05:43:40Z")
The OP question can only be answered with some understanding of the materials and processed needed to produce cold fusion. I’m quite certain there are cold fusion “theories” aplenty right now. I imagine there are plenty of fruitcake ones, and maybe even a few that are marginally plausible but require so much money/resources, or theoretical materials to work that no one’s been able to pursue them yet. If cold fusion requires something on the scale of a nuclear power plant or a superconducting super collider, and some government or company has invested on a similar scale to a Big Science project, it is not something that will be able to be “disappeared”. OTOH, if some wildly implausible situation arises where a brilliant guy in a garage figures it out, then yes, it might be suppressed for some indefinite time. Just by killing the guy and burning down his house, if it came to that. I imagine the odds against that scenario are billions to one. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/20 "2013-01-05T06:25:47Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > OTOH, if some wildly implausible situation arises where a brilliant guy in a garage figures it out, then yes, it might be suppressed for some indefinite time. Just by killing the guy and burning down his house, if it came to that. > > I imagine the odds against that scenario are billions to one. If I were a brilliant guy in a garage, and I’d just achieved cold fusion, the very first thing I would do after putting down the beer and pinching myself would be posting all about it on YouTube. Or here. Suck on that, charter members ! Who gets a cool custom title \*now \*? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105.md?page=2)