If Cold Fusion or other forms of nearly free energy emerge, obviously there will be radical change in the world. 'Free' energy will have a profoundly deflationary effect on the world economy. Oil will move towards a price consistent with being a chemical feedstock, eventually, as automobiles are converted.
'Free' energy will stimulate economies temporarily as new products are eagerly bought - however, in the longer term, it will deflate general economic demand in a manner similar to what the internet did for recorded music, movies and pornography (!). Governments will be voted out or overthrown in violence especially in the Middle East (and Iran, which will become anti-clerical). Islamic terrorism will decline. Decentralized goverance will advance and tax revenue will be ever more difficult to collect. It's even possible that separatist movements could emerge, even in the US, as insular groups find practical independence. If you're a member of the Aryan Nation, things might look pretty good in rural Idaho. Once the emergence is established, there will be evidence of public grief by various enviromentalists and climate change activists. Only a few will observe what this teaches about their real motives were. All in all, warts and all, if there is a trigger to be pulled on 'free' energy, Godspeed to those that give it to the human race. It may be the world's best hope to escape the tyranny of a corrupt and sociopathic elite, who would sacrifice anyone in their way to rule over the scarcity that would otherwise exist.
