Who is funding cold fusion research and development?
Major financial support for cold fusion research comes from Japanese sources. In the Autumn of 1991, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry organized a research consortium of ten major Japanese corporations to advance research in cold fusion. Prior to this, only the Ministry of Education was involved in this research. This consortium is called “The New Hydrogen Energy Panel” (NHEP). In the spring of 1992, as the activities of the Panel became widely known, Japanese newspapers reported that five other major Japanese corporations asked to be included. In mid-1992, MITI announced a four-year, three billion yen ($24 million) program to advance cold fusion research, to be administered by MITI’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). This money was to spent on special expenses within the national laboratories, such as travel and extra equipment purchases beyond the usual discretionary levels. In 1995, the four year budget for this project was raised t
