ZPE Energy systems- how viable are they?

Sothis · Post by **Sothis** » 2002-08-25 09:29am

Does anyone here have any idea how likely it is before we devlop ZPE (Zero Point Energy for those that don't know) power sources? If we develop them at all?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2002-08-25 03:17pm

Not likely. Research into the zero point domain showed that it wasn't nearly as dense as some physicists thought it was, which really bummed out a lot of cosmologists of the time. They were really hoping that they could find the missing energy of the universe in the zero point domain.

So, no, there's no gigantic, secret reservoir of untapped energy in the zero point domain.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2002-08-25 08:28pm

What is ZPE? I know what it stands for, but what is it?

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2002-08-25 11:25pm

The Zero-Point Paradigm came up sometime around 1987 (I think) as a hypothesis to try to explain where all the "missing" energy of the Universe might be which will determine whether our cosmos is open or closed. The idea was that empty space is not actually empty but filled with particles and electrodynamic reactions which forms a sort of quantum "foam" that defines what we very loosely call the fabric of spacetime. It was thought that this could well be the resevoir of energy the cosmologists were looking for and might define the structure of the universe around us.

Proponnents for free energy hit upon this as the latest answer to limitless power. If you could tap a cubic centimetre of the vacuum, they reasoned, you could draw titanic power from this virtually infinite energy reserve. Unfortunately, observation has not supported the hypothesis, and that at best you might be able to draw out only one ten-thousandth of a joule from any given point in space.

It's sort of like knowing that there is immense potential energy in the oceans but then trying to stick an electric plug into the ocean and expecting to light a 100-watt bulb. Even if you could somehow stick a tap into the fabric of the universe, the amount of its energy you'd be able to draw would be so infinitessimally tiny that you'd probably never notice that anything was happening, if anything was happening at all that is. But a lot of SF writers (hacks, mostly) and inevitably fanboys (sad, mostly) leapt upon the ZPE bandwagon as the latest answer around those pesky laws of physics which get in the way of our plans to build warp drives and planet-cracking superweapons just like in our favourite TV series or movies. Even the more serious investigators who were looking for a practical energy source apart from fossil or nuclear have pretty much given up on ZPE as a bust, but at least it managed to have a slightly longer shelf-life than cold fusion. These days, however, ZPE is already passe, and the search for a source of free energy trudges on.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2002-08-26 11:43am

Actually, zero point energy, I believe, was first theorized about back in the 50's.

Any kind of significant energy density in the zero point domain would simply not fit with observation, because we know that the universe's expansion is accelerating. If there was such a huge reservoir of energy hidden away, the expansion would either be much slower, or the universe would simply be closed due to the extra mass density.

Crossover_Maniac · Post by **Crossover_Maniac** » 2002-08-27 08:08pm

There are some theories that inertia is a product of ZPE. If ZPE could be manipulated, inertia could be as well allowing for 'mass lightening' as seen in ST:TNG.