"Blue Energy", Excuse Me?

Unless you are living under a rock, you must have heard all the news about the so-called "Blue Energy", an alternative source of energy invented by an Indonesian named Djoko Suprapto. This mumbo jumbo is shrouded by a thick mist of secrecy and unclarity. A few days ago, Djoko the inventor suddenly appeared in the media, apologizing to Pres SBY for "hiding" himself...which means that he was missing for some time. The Pres has been showing a somewhat strange attention to this project. In addition, he didn't involve the State Ministry for Research and Technology at all. Gadjah Mada University (UGM), whose name has been thrown around in this case, denied all connections to the project.

The turn of events led many institutions and parts of the society to accuse this plan as a hoax, a big fat unscientific hoax, which led people to question SBY's involvement and "affection" to the project. On the other hand, VP Jusuf Kalla said that no one should diss the invention, noting that all of the world's biggest invention was also met with this kind of rejection. I'd say, let both sides squabble, we need more comedian these days.

First of all, what in the world is this phenomenal "blue energy"? Some media said that it is a source of energy harnessing the power of water, others said that it is only a way of minimizing fuel usage but not as a substitute to fossil fuel (this kind of invention is already invented by another guy and applied), another said some technical thingamabobs which I don't understand, while if you search the great wikipedia, "blue energy" relates to harnessing osmotic power or salinity gradient in water.

Someone, preferably Mr. Djoko himself, should really clarify and explain this thing in a clear, scientific way on what the invention actually does and what principles are used; unless the "blue energy" involves some kind of supernatural process, in which case we'll need shamans, not scientists. We just want some clarification whether this is the "real" stuff or just another fame seeker who's too old for Indonesian Idol. Every research needs to be scientifically reviewed by scientists, that's all I'm saying.

Then, what is the benefit of this "blue energy"? How much energy can we obtain from this process, and is it economically feasible to develop the tech? If the "blue energy" really uses the water in your plain ol' bottle of Aqua, this can lead to another mess like biofuel. The price of water will reach an exorbitant level, and we'll all die of thirst. That's not what I call "benefit". Therefore, Djoko the inventor must also provide this kind of calculations or let someone do it. If "blue energy" is found to be unfeasible, we'll just have to say good bye to it, at least until the tech makes it feasible.

I'm no rocket scientist, and I have no plan to be one. Yet, I know that scientists still face obstacles in taking these beneficial processes into the lab, let alone make it into a commercially feasible source of energy. Besides, there are still thousands of things to be taken into consideration before we switch to a new energy source. Parts of the world was eaten by famine when food crops are turned into biofuel, which is used by cars, not human. We don't need another fuel fiasco like that. There are too many questions about this project, also tons of other questions on SBY's close and secretive involvement in it.

We just need some clarifications, that's all, because this is hardly the time to blindly ask stupid questions. What made people stop questioning inventions? Proof, in-your-face proof.