BLACKLIGHT POWER: Energy From Water Now Commercially Viable?

BlackLight Power (stock symbol BLP) announced that its Houdini-like energy plan has found a buyer.

BlackLight Power Inc. today announced its first commercial license agreement with Estacado Energy Services, Inc. in New Mexico, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Roosevelt County Electric Cooperative, (Estacado). In a non-exclusive agreement, BLP has licensed Estacado to use the BlackLight Process and certain BLP energy technology for the production of thermal or electric power. Estacado may produce gross thermal power up to a maximum continuous capacity of 250 MW or convert this thermal power to corresponding electricity.

Earth2Tech writes that the new BlackLight Power deal doesn't prove much except a willingness out there to take risks. Of course, that's encouraging in and of itself.

The licensing agreement is definitely not a game-changing coup for the startup, but it demonstrates that there are utilities out there willing to take a chance on an experimental technology. BlackLight says Estacado will use its technology in a non-exclusive license to produce a maximum continuous thermal power up to 250 MW. Other than that, very little is explained in BlackLight's press release, including when the fuel cell technology would be implemented or the cost of the deal, and we're waiting to hear back from BlackLight and Roosevelt on the details.

ABOUT BLACKLIGHT POWER

BlackLight Power, a company that has endured skepticism of some very smart people for a very long time, has claimed for years that it made a breakthrough in finding a "new" kind of energy.

Imagine being able to convert water into a boundless source of cheap energy. That's what BlackLight Power, a 25-employee firm in Cranbury, N.J., says it can do. The only problem: Most scientists say that company's technology violates the basic laws of physics.

Such skepticism doesn't daunt Dr. Randell Mills, a Harvard-trained physician and founder of BlackLight, who recently claimed that he has created a working fuel cell using the world's most pervasive element: the hydrogen found in water.

"This is no longer an academic argument," Mills, 50, insists. "It's proven technology, and we're going to commercialize it as quickly as possible."

The New York Times covered BlackLight's energy claim earlier this year:

Ask nearly any physicist if it's possible for a hydrogen atom to enter a lower energy state than the ground, or resting state they hold in nature, and you're likely to get an unequivocal "no".

...

To a regular person, of course, disputes between physicists are worse than boring. But Blacklight's claims have a special significance: If they're true, there's a source of cheap, clean energy that can be easily tapped anywhere in the world. And rather than attempt to convince the world with calculations, Blacklight is now saying that it has physical proof of its energy generator, verified by an independent university lab.

AROUND THE WEB:

::Early Skepticism About BlackLight Power
::BlackLight Power's Randell Mills Believes In A New Kind Of Energy Called "Hydrino"
::BlackLight Power Bolsters Its Claim Of New Kind Of Energy
::Randell Mills Responds To BlackLight Power Critics
::How Long Before BlackLight Power Works?

Comments

[T33V33]

Ok, so humor me. If we are so self-assured that we know all there is to know about a hydrogen molecule, then why on Earth are we wasting billions on building the Large Hadron Collider just to smash a couple together in hoping theoretically to figure out what the universe is made from?

[research]

Show me the Hydrinos!

You had 10 years!

[KillTheMessenger]

They will show them once they raise the money for the next larger scale of experiment.

:-)

[research]

Soon, we only need a few million....

[ddanimal]

cont'd

What does Dr. Mills think is behind this ordinary water energy source?

Dr. Mills and his colleges believe that the energy source in their ordinary water experiments is technologically extremely potent, but they have adopted a radical theory to explain the excess heat. Dr. Mill says that the source of excess energy is related in a catalytic process whereby the electron of the hydrogen atom is induced to undergo a transition to a lower electronic energy level than the "ground state" as defined by the usual quantum-mechanical model of the atom. Thus, stored energy in the atoms is catalytycally released. Mill views many of the nuclear effects in "cold fusion" to be real effects, which he thinks can be explained by his theory.

[KillTheMessenger]

I would suggest that you put your money where your faith is. You should invest at least $100,000 in BLP. And please report back to us how that investment worked out for you a few years down the road.

:-)

[ddanimal]

Hey c'mon. No need for the sniping. I am trying to have an open mind with an appropriate level of skepticism.

[InspiredByTruth]

I'll bite. There's alot of buzz behind this new technology. Lets face it, they wouldn't be signing commercial agreements if nothing existed.

And contrary to what some the imps are saying, this science never violated the laws of physics, just your understanding of it...oh and before you throw copy and pasted scientific misinterpretations at me, the tech is now officially commercially licensed, so thats pretty much the end of this silly debate.

[ddanimal]

Oh sure they would be signing agreements, especially if no money changes hands. If this is a fraud, then the announcement of the signed agreement has a lot of value.

This debate is FAR from over.

There are LOTS of phony companies that have announced signed agreements and "firm purchase orders" and other such nonsense.

This signed agreement means little, especially because no money transaction was announced.

[ddanimal]

But then there is the following. Both sides of this argument can point to good information.

Blacklight Power"s predecessor was called "Hydrocatalysis Power". Here is an excerpt from about 20 years ago.

Quote

Hydrocatalysis Power Corporation (HPC) has an extensive and experimental research program of producing energy from light-water electrolytic cells. HPC and Thermacore, Inc., Lancaster, PA are cooperating in developing a commercial product. (Thermacore is a well-respected defense contractor and its expertise is in the field of heat transfer.). Presently, all of the demonstration cells of HPC and Thermacore produce excess power immediately and continuously. Cells producing 50 watts of excess power and greater have been in operation for more than one year. Some cells can produce 10 times more heat power than the total electrical power input to the cell. A steam-producing prototype cell has been successfully tested ¦ The [original] experiment has been scaled up by a factor of one-thousand, and the scaled-up heat cell results have been independently confirmed by Thermacore, Inc. Patents covering the composition of matter, structures, and methods of the HydroCatalysis process have been filed by HPC worldwide with a priority date of April 32, 1989. HPC and Thermacore are presently fabricating a steam-producing demonstration cell.

Unquote

[ddanimal]

Killthemessenger and research:

Take a look at this paper.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/10/rowan-university-study-of-blacklight.html

The guys at Rowan claim to have performed a replication of the BLP excess power results. The PDF is available, I can send it if you like.

I take back some of my earlier comments. Chance of this being fraud at this point is a lot less than 99%, which I stated earlier. I'm on the fence, perhaps.

[KillTheMessenger]

You have just fallen off the fence. One crank riding shotgun on the success of another crank. Conmen teaming up. Got anything better?

:-)

[research]

Really! Why don't you folks just sell power back to the grid to finance your company!!!!!!!

[research]

If they can make electricity for free,

Why don't they sell it to finance their company?

About a million dollars per megawatt per year.

[PRaeburn]

For my take, see my post for the Columbia Journalism Review:

http://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/weird_science_reporting.php

[KillTheMessenger]

One could also add that the techniques of these "inventors" have not changed since the days of the alchemists. And those can probably be traced back to the shamans. And who knows who used the same method before those invented themselves?

:-)

[Kautamiestates]

Having no money invested in the company and not intending to either, I'm interested in seeing what happens.... Will be either a cheap laugh or cheap power... I'm good either way.

[palindrom]

As many posters have pointed out, this is total nonsense -- it violates deep, basic, long-established laws of physics. The explanation offered is mumbo-jumbo. I teach college physics to pre-meds, and while many are very smart people who will make wonderful doctors, there are a great many MDs out there whose scientific literacy is marginal at best.

Obama's pick for energy secretary, Steve Chu, had the best response when told that many had invested serious money in this scheme -- "I feel sorry for them."

[BenK1976]

Why do I read comments? Everyone is so negative! It seems like those who can't make news you make fun of those that do make news! My goodness people, perk up and do something!...LOL

[research]

Why are we so negative?

Cause there's a 99.999999% chance this is pure BS.

Robbing people with ACTUAL good ideas of their funding.

For 10 years they haven't distributed any of this lower state hydrogen??

Come on,

Don't be Naive.

[ddanimal]

 he big problem with the Blacklight Power organization is that they have not gone through ordinary channels to communicate with other scientists, disseminate their claims and invite replication.

NOBODY has replicated their work, though several have tried. The attempted replications of experiments in Mills's book were complete failures, though the experiments were seemingly simple. Is Mills leaving something out, or is he a fraud? Mills is silent.

If they are for real, why dont they publish a real paper in a real journal, and invite replication by showing other scientists exactly how to do what they claim to have done.

they might say that they dont want to be scooped by others or that they dont want to lose their technology-fair enough. But this has been going on for over 11-12 years now, and still they have not sold or demonstrated any units, except demonstrations for two professors. Thats not good enough for credibility.

[changingworld]

I have been following BLP for 10 years. I remain skeptical, but the comments here reflect a superficial and inaccurate view of this emerging story.
Contrary to the claims, Mills has been published in peer reviewed journals. e.g.:

J. Plasma Physics, Vol. 71, No. 6, (2005), 877-888;Vol. 72, No. 4, (2006), 469-484.
Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vol. 12 (2003), pp. 389-395;
Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 36, (2003), pp. 1535-1542;
IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 31, Issue 3, June 2003, pp. 338-355.

Highly qualified scientists including Conrads, Wrubel, Kroesen , Phillips , Sharer and Jannson have confirmed that something inexplicable is going on even if they have yet to endorse Mills' theory. I am not aware of ANY scientist who has accurately tried to replicate the BLP experiments that did not get a positive result (Earthtech altered the experimental set up .)

Admittedly, the Schroedinger equation in QM doesn't contemplate H below the "ground state", but the SE didn't predict any levels; it is a mathematical representation of observed levels. Mills claims lower states are possible under very unique conditions which he predicted and which his experiments tend to confirm. Modern QM has evolved so that math is now viewed as reality rather than as a tool. The bottom line is that this debate needs to resolved in the lab, not based on internet postings by people who have never seen the experiments let alone tried to replicate them.

[pokemon]

Who needs it, buy the following:

A good wood stove, mines 90% burning, cannot see smoke come out. Heats my house for around $600.00 a year, and I can cook on it if needed. I use Gas and secondary heat (when I do not feel like getting wood).

Solar panels, you can supply 50-70% of your current needs with a simple system, which in turns pays for itself in 10 years (25 year system). Costs as much as you are paying now anyway. Plus if you start using energy saving bulbs, etc, your savings goes up. Add a small wind mill.

Now you basically can tell the system to suck an egg.

[jeanruss]

Walter Russell, a 20th century American genius, had done exactly what this company is doing. Russell made a Hydrogen engine and displayed it to NORAD in the early 1900's. Of course business interests in fossil fuels held sway and humanity didn't get its cheap, plentiful and clean energy. Russell also made a new periodic table with FIVE fractions of Hydrogen, as he said our table was incomplete. He predicted that Hydrogen would be the next source of energy for our world. Tesla told Russell that he should put his work away for a thousand years until people would accept it. The earth doesn't have a thousand years to solve the problems we have created. It is thrilling to see a company finally follow Russell's science and save us from the greedy people who don't care about future generations.

[KillTheMessenger]

And you happen to be related to "New Age" Russel?

NORAD was founded in 1958. So if Russel showed his inventions to them in the early 1900s he also must have had a time machine.

Hmmm... makes perfect sense now....

[pokemon]

Basically it looks like they are making Browns gas.

[KillTheMessenger]

You mean a 2:1 mixture of hydrogen and oxygen that explodes violently when heated? I used to make a lot of that as a kid with a 4.5V battery. It's great for welding, even better for losing eye-brows, eyes and lives.

:-)

[dolphy]

I have an engine that runs on water. Any buyers?

[KillTheMessenger]

I take a shipment in exchange for my historic landmark in the Brooklyn area.

[ddanimal]

I think I am going to buy a lot of stock in this one. I dont think it works, but I think that a lot of other people will think that it works. And thats good enough.

[KillTheMessenger]

"And thats good enough.:

It will be... for them.

:-)

[JScott]

Hmmm sounds like a pitch for subprime mortgage loans and credit default swaps eh.

[ddanimal]

And now Blacklight has gone public? Thats ANOTHER major red flag. If their tech is so good, why are they selling pieces of the company?

[ddanimal]

actually, it looks like they have NOT gone public. Someone assumed they did because the company put an apparent ticker symbol (BLP) in their press release or news articles.

[KillTheMessenger]

Wouldn't that be fraud to claim you have a ticker symbol if you do not?

:-)

[ddanimal]

I have followed this weird story for 11 years. BLP has been working on this for about 15 years. I have a degree in physics and am pretty skeptical about their claims. If "hydrinos" (lower energy state hydrogens) are possible, then how come we are not surrounded by hydrino compounds and how come they have never been detected by anyone else? Why is all the hydrogen in the world in the "normal" state, when this is not the ground state? Why has BLP not given samples of their suppsoed hydrino compounds to other scientists to investogate. Surely a new form of matter would be of the greatest interest to physicists and other scientists.

And I have never ever heard of "fractional" wave states in any system. I personally dont think they exist. I also expect that if fractional wave states were possible, they would have been detected in other systems (other than the hydrogen atom) or other quantum mechanical experiments.

others have tried to replicate the BLP experiments, but apparently, BLP has never come to the aid of anyone else trying to replicate their work. And they dont have any peer reviewed papers (just conference presentations and such) that demonstrate their technology.

Oh yeah, and as of a couple years ago (I havent checked recently) they had only a single solitary wacky not very good patent application filed.

In all, its not a story that creates a lot of confidence. They have raised millions of dollars from investors, however.

[KillTheMessenger]

There is a simple rule for this kind of thing:

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

This is a six sigma rule, so you have not much more than a one in a million chance that it is going to be violated by reality. A little better than playing the lottery, but not much better.

[ddanimal]

That "rule" doesnt always work. It didnt work for the Wright brothers, and it took years for academics and the world generally to believe they had achieved the accomplishment of heavier than air flight.

[research]

You Nailed it

"Why has BLP not given samples of their supposed hydrino compounds to other scientists to investigate."

It's BS.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

"They have raised millions of dollars from investors, however." In the past plenty of alchemists supported themselves for years on the dime of nobility on the promise of changing lead into gold. It was a hazardous way to make a living though. This looks like a modern version of that old sport.