Chinese government sponsored research institute Hefei Institutes of Physical Science is developing technology to generate clean energy from deuterium in seawater through nuclear fusion. One liter of sea water would potentially produce the energy equivalent to 300 liters of gasoline. A critical part to the project’s success is developing a device capable of withstanding temperatures as high as 100 million degrees Celcius. If the claims are verified by the scientific community, this technological breakthrough could be a tremendous step in reducing dependence on pollution generating coal and oil energy.

[via Drudge]

[UPDATE (11-4-06):  Chinese scientists made their first successful test of the thermonuclear fusion reactor.  Full Story available here.]

I have a fascination with China. I’ve spent time in Shanghai, and I admire China’s amazing economic growth, history, people and culture. Be on the lookout for innovation profiles, news, thoughts and ideas from China. I’m especially expecting great things from Shak Khan, a veteran technology entrepreneur living in Shanghai and chasing the “Chinese dream.”

It is clear that China has emerged in recent years as a manufacturing force, and a huge innovation in manufacturing sourcing efficiency has been the development of Alibaba and Global Sources, which are owned partly by Yahoo! and eBay respectively.

When I was in Shanghai last year, Shanghai based Jeff MacCorkle and I discussed the potential of eBay as a retailer of Chinese manufactured products. He mentioned an article I haven’t been able to find about an entrepreneur who was wandering around the famous Canton Trade Show, and discovered a room of billiard tables available at a fraction of the cost of billiard tables manufactured in the States. He reserved a shipping container, filled it up with pool tables and sold them on eBay. Allegedly, this guy is now the number 1 eBay retailer for pool tables and makes caboodles of money.

As Jeff says, there is opportunity for eBay entrepreneurs who figure out an efficient method to source, quality check, and ship Chinese manufactured products (especially products that aren’t already sourced in China by Wal-Mart - pool tables, or motorized, drivable toy cars, for example).