# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/21 "2013-01-05T07:13:47Z")
The idea that the oil companies would “would just switch to controlling the fusion market” doesn’t work very well, because fusion isn’t a physical resource they can secure control over. If practical fusion power was invented nations and companies all over the world would be building their own. The best they could hope for is copyrighting the technique, and getting at least some money from the groups that don’t just decide to ignore the copyright. Plus, there’s the fact that companies hate to have to retool for a new product because it costs money. They probably would try to suppress it, regardless of whether or not they could succeed because even if they fail they put off the cost of having to switch from one product to another for a while. It’s something companies do all the time, although in real life they are far less likely to send assassins than they are to simply acquire the patent and just sit on it. Lawyers may not be as dramatic as corporate ninjas, but they’re more effective. ---
**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, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/22 "2013-01-05T07:36:00Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Lawyers may not be as dramatic as corporate ninjas, but they’re more effective. Wait till you see Disney’s crack squad of ninja lawyers. Or rather, don’t see them. ---
**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, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/23 "2013-01-05T08:09:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The idea that the oil companies would “would just switch to controlling the fusion market” doesn’t work very well, because fusion isn’t a physical resource they can secure control over. If practical fusion power was invented nations and companies all over the world would be building their own. The best they could hope for is copyrighting the technique, and getting at least some money from the groups that don’t just decide to ignore the copyright. > > Plus, there’s the fact that companies hate to have to retool for a new product because it costs money. They probably would try to suppress it, regardless of whether or not they could succeed because even if they fail they put off the cost of having to switch from one product to another for a while. It’s something companies do all the time, although in real life they are far less likely to send assassins than they are to simply acquire the patent and just sit on it. Lawyers may not be as dramatic as corporate ninjas, but they’re more effective. The equipment has to be developed, built, and maintained. They’ll lock up the market in this country, and other small countries, just like with oil. They’ll get a patent on the device and lock out competition in a lot of places. Even a country like China that ignores the patent will have to buy the equipment somewhere before they copy it. Whoever does this will make way more money than oil companies do. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/24 "2013-01-05T08:19:59Z")
It’ll end up in a crate in a goverment warehouse, next to the Ark of the Covenent. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/25 "2013-01-05T08:33:23Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > They’ll lock up the market in this country, and other small countries, just like with oil. It doesn’t work like that. They can do that with oil because it’s a finite, bulk commodity. “Fusion” would just be information. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Even a country like China that ignores the patent will have to buy the equipment somewhere before they copy it. Or more likely just steal it. At the very least, if it isn’t offered for sale at a reasonable price I expect every technologically advanced country on the planet will soon steal it regardless of the law “for national security reasons”. A more likely thing for them to try would be to buy the patent and sit on it until the patent runs out, stalling in public with endless news releases about “more research needed”. That wouldn’t stop the military of various nations from doing the research themselves though. ---
**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, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/26 "2013-01-05T08:43:32Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > It doesn’t work like that. They can do that with oil because it’s a finite, bulk commodity. “Fusion” would just be information. > Or more likely just steal it. At the very least, if it isn’t offered for sale at a reasonable price I expect every technologically advanced country on the planet will soon steal it regardless of the law “for national security reasons”. > > A more likely thing for them to try would be to buy the patent and sit on it until the patent runs out, stalling in public with endless news releases about “more research needed”. That wouldn’t stop the military of various nations from doing the research themselves though. Fusion isn’t the product, electricity is. Fusion will provide a limitless amount of it compared to oil. They’ll know that the technology will be exploited by others if they don’t use it themselves, and that will result in oil dropping drastically in price. An oil company will cash in on fusion if they develop it themselves, and they’ll pay plenty of money for it if it’s developed by others. ---
**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, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/27 "2013-01-05T15:44:40Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > 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 \*? Ok, then change the scenario to a brilliant guy with a garage who doesn’t have a webcam and is only a measly Guest on SDMB, so of course no one here pays attention to his ramblings, and increase the odds to trillions to one. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/28 "2013-01-05T16:45:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Fusion isn’t the product, electricity is. Fusion will provide a limitless amount of it compared to oil. As noted above, oil doesn’t produce much of our electricity - coal does. Our main uses for oil aren’t affected too directly by fusion electricity. We have relatively cheap electricity now, and it’s still more effective to power our cars with gasoline. The bottleneck isn’t cheap electricity but effective battery/fuel cell technology. Short of a revolutionary breakthrough in automobile technology, we’re going to be using petroleum for at least the next few decades even with a cold fusion breakthrough. I can see oil companies attempt to jump on the fusion bandwagon, though. They are among the few entities that have the physical and monetary resources much less experience with infrastructure spending to quickly exploit the technology. Even so, it’s years or decades until widespread adoption comes to pass, if only because building big new stuff takes time, even with massive public subsidies. ---
**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, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/29 "2013-01-05T17:30:58Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > As noted above, oil doesn’t produce much of our electricity - coal does. Our main uses for oil aren’t affected too directly by fusion electricity. > > We have relatively cheap electricity now, and it’s still more effective to power our cars with gasoline. The bottleneck isn’t cheap electricity but effective battery/fuel cell technology. Short of a revolutionary breakthrough in automobile technology, we’re going to be using petroleum for at least the next few decades even with a cold fusion breakthrough. > > I can see oil companies attempt to jump on the fusion bandwagon, though. They are among the few entities that have the physical and monetary resources much less experience with infrastructure spending to quickly exploit the technology. Even so, it’s years or decades until widespread adoption comes to pass, if only because building big new stuff takes time, even with massive public subsidies. We will still use oil for some time, it’s the only practical means of powering aircraft, and even ships unless the fusion device is portable. But the invention of a practical fusion energy device will lower the price of oil, and it will continue to decline for some time after that, until the oil supplies at the reduced demand begin to run low. The time lag needed to implement fusion technology is the reason oil companies would jump on it. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105/30 "2013-01-06T00:39:34Z")
If fusion is developed, there will still be many uses for petroleum but running automobiles won’t be one of them. The kind of cheap electricity that fusion promises means that the global fleet will indeed transition to electrical power. Batteries won’t be necessary, we’ll simply electrify the roadways themselves. Researchers in South Korea and at Utah State (home base of Fleischman and Pons, ironically) have already made breakthroughs in powering an electric car from power sources embedded in the roadway. I have no idea if fusion is possible. It seems more likely that low energy nuclear reactions (LENRs), which are actually fission events with plentiful and cheap sources, will be successful in the near run. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cold-fusion-achieved-could-the-oil-companies-squash-it/646105.md?page=1)