On "Top Five Alternative Energies," Regina Meredith interviews Sterling Allan, president of New Energies Systems Trust, on the cutting edge of emerging alternative sources of energy. Hardcore skeptics, suspend your disbelief, at least for the show's duration. Be prepared to go beyond solar, wind and thermal energy sources and enter a new frontier of terms, including vortex, cold fusion and motor generators. Allan's excitement for these new forms of energy is palpable, and Meredith asks him all the right questions to tap into his thorough knowledge of the subject.
He starts with an interesting premise -- we get the energy we deserve. For those willing to think outside conventional protocols, a brave new world of resources can be tapped. Of course, energy entrepreneurship comes with its fair share of ridicule and detractors, all of whom, says Allan, "we have to courageously ignore." But with the Internet, YouTube and the viral spread of ideas, these new technologies have what Allan describes as "escape velocity -- enough momentum that their development can not be stopped."
Open sourcing and crowd-funding are boosting these exotic energies as well, giving them much needed support, feedback and financial backing. The fringes, explains Allan, are where the most interesting breakthroughs are happening -- but you have to be willing to eschew the validation of academia.
Invoking the lineage of Nikola Tesla, Allan breaks down the most promising experimental forms of energy that are on the cusp of coming to market. He makes the nuts and bolts of these new protocols intelligible to the layman, infusing his explanations with humor and passion and exploring their deepest implications. Below are what Allan calls the most promising new forms of exotic energy.
Water/Tidal Energy
Utilizing the power of the vortex, technologies that source the energy of moving water are ideal for converting natural vibrations in slow-moving ocean, river, and tidal currents into affordable and reliable energy. Hydrokinetic energy devices can harness the energy of slow-moving water at competitive prices.
Energy Catalyzer (E-Cat)
Italian inventor Andrea Rossi's E-Cat produces useful power from a low energy nuclear reaction involving cheap and ubiquitous hydrogen and nickel at relatively low temperatures and pressures -- with no residual radiation.
Motor Generator
This device features a number of systems in which a motor turns a larger output generator. The generator produces enough energy to keep the motor running as well as enough left over to power other things.
Thermal Electric
Steorn, an innovative technology firm, is under contract with the two largest corporations in the electric hot water heating market worldwide. Currently in development, their HephaHeat product will cost about as much as the electric water heater it's replacing, but will consume one fifth as much electricity.
Cold Fusion
Cold fusion would change everything, including our dependence on oil in the Middle East. It overcomes the hurdle preventing the use of nuclear fusion for generating electricity -- the incredibly complex and demanding requirements necessary for the use of hot fusion. Brillouin Energy Corporation (BEC), says Allan, is developing breakthrough proprietary technology that produces large amounts of commercially-usable heat energy at very low cost. It works by transforming the hydrogen in ordinary water using a safe, controlled process.
All of these technologies show enormous promise: clean, super-efficient, non-depleting, reliable and affordable. Meredith and Allan guide us through these exotic, creative energy sources with fearless poise -- inviting all of us along for the ride to a more sustainable future.