It’s a romantic notion, to capture a piece of a star in a bottle, and use it to power civilization. A modern day Prometheus, stealing fire from the Gods. But much like Prometheus, the notion remains mostly a myth, still years and billions of dollars away, despite a seemingly endless stream of funding and years spent in pursuit of the dream.

The milestones are all engineering marvels in themselves: Reach the highest temperature ever on earth. Generate the strongest magnetic field ever. Create the most powerful lasers. But the problems are glossed over: The highest temperature lasted less than a few nanoseconds. The magnetic field requires superconducting magnets and is the size of a typical suburban house. The laser’s power is measured in gigawatts, but the blasts last for a few billionths of a second and require massive electrical sources to power them. These are technologies that are unbelievably expensive and massive beyond everyday comprehension. Still, the myth has its hold on us as it continues to draw resources and talented engineers and scientists.

There are facts that are now beyond any reasonable doubt: We are on a path to irrevocably change the climate of our planet, and make changes to civilization and the natural environment on a scale not experienced since the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that destroyed 75% of plant and animal life on earth. Global temperatures will change, sea levels will rise and inundate coastal cities, droughts and flood patterns will change, and irrigable lands will change all over the globe. Simply changing from a petroleum-based society to one built around renewables such as solar and wind will not be enough to change our inevitable course. We have to do more and we have to do it now if we have any chance to avoid the disastrous consequences of the course we are now taking.

One field of study that has mostly been ignored is low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR). Mostly a scientific curiosity or notes of unexplained anomalous heat seen in some experiments for more than 100 years, it is now seeing renewed interest by NASA and others as the physics models become better understood. Basic objections such as how to overcome the Coulomb barrier without the star-like temperatures or the incredible magnetic fields are falling as concepts such as electron screening are beginning to be understood and verified.

LENR doesn’t require the stellar temperatures, the magnetic confinement, or the powerful lasers. It doesn’t require a facility or the resources of a large commercial power plant. Instead of powering cities, a typical LENR generator could be built to power anything from a vehicle, a home, a neighborhood or an interplanetary spacecraft. Like the massive plants, it will be fueled by isotopes of Hydrogen, a virtually unlimited fuel, and it will be inherently failsafe, with no dangerous radiation or gasses, no forever waste, no way to contaminate vast areas in the event of an accident and make them uninhabitable. But instead of measuring the power of these plants in megawatts, they will be kilowatts, a very human scale of power and one that is still very useful.

Capturing a star in a bottle remains a persistent but elusive goal. But just as there are an infinite number of stars, each different from the other. Red dwarfs, yellow giants, brown dwarfs, and neutron stars, each has its own way of sustaining itself. Not all of them shine as bright as creation in the darkness. And just as there are different stars, there should be different paths in the pursuit of the energy that powers the stars. We will need the massive lasers and magnets, just as we will need the human-sized power generators that can travel with us, allowing for the invention of vehicles or aircraft that need refueling once every 10 years. Our path to a sustainable and livable future needs to include all types of energy sources and LENR needs to be an important part of that future.

PointSource is dedicated to being a significant part of that path towards a sustainable future. We’re now working on the first Hydrogen Ion Fusion engine and we’re looking for partners who understand the critical needs we all face, and want to join us. Simply email us for access to our restricted Growth page if you’d like to know more.