Researchers have been on a long quest to harness carbon-free energy from natural processes, from tapping into tidal forces to mimicking the fusion reactions that occur in stars.<\/p>\n
Now, a team of physicists is investigating whether the Earth’s rotational energy could be a source of sustainable power, according to Futurism<\/a>.<\/p>\n The concept of generating electricity through the Earth’s magnetic field has been floated since at least 1832 when Michael Faraday<\/a> tested the idea and got a negative result, as stated in a study<\/a> on the topic.<\/p>\n It has since been tested many times to no avail, as electrons tend to rearrange themselves, leaving charges static instead of generating energy.<\/p>\n Princeton University physicist Christopher Chyba remained undeterred in exploring the idea, however. Pursuing the theoretical potential of creating a charge as a conductor passes through a magnetic field, Chyba and his colleagues found a loophole.<\/p>\n Calculations showed that certain materials had unusual properties when formed into a cylinder and could channel Earth’s magnetic field into a configuration that electrostatic forces couldn’t cancel out.<\/p>\n Watch now: How bad is a gas stove for your home’s indoor air quality?<\/a><\/p>\n As detailed in their study<\/a> published in Physical Review Research, the device used a cylindrical shell of manganese-zinc ferrite as a conductor, with electrodes at each end. Futurism explained<\/a> that it was set at a 57-degree angle, perpendicular to our planet’s rotational motion and magnetic field.<\/p>\n The result was 17 microvolts of electricity, which is a fraction of the voltage released when a single neuron fires, as an article by Nature detailed<\/a>. This led researchers to comment that the findings were “controversial but intriguing.”<\/p>\n “The idea is somewhat counter-intuitive and has been argued since Faraday,” Paul Thomas, an emeritus physicist at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Eau Claire, shared<\/a>. However, since Chyba’s experiments were meticulous and carefully done, he still found it “convincing and remarkable.”<\/p>\n While the verity of these results is being debated, the method could be yet another avenue for sustainable energy harvesting.<\/p>\n Dirty fuels account for around 80%<\/a> of the world’s energy production, and their use has resulted in rampant air pollution and planet-warming gases.<\/p>\n We need clean and sustainable power sources to achieve a greener future where energy costs are lower, the air is cleaner, and the planet’s resources aren’t wasted.<\/p>\n The success of renewables such as solar<\/a> and wind power is helping drive innovation. Fusion power is still a theoretical carbon-free solution, but it’s getting closer to reality every day.<\/p>\n If other researchers can verify Chyba’s rotational field generator findings, the next step will be to scale up the device to produce useful amounts of energy, as he shared with Nature.<\/p>\n “Our equations show how such scaling might be done, but that is very different from a demonstration that it is actually possible,” Chyba concluded<\/a>.<\/p>\n Join our free newsletter<\/a> for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives<\/strong> and shaping our future<\/strong>, and don’t miss this cool list<\/a> of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers have been on a long quest to harness carbon-free energy from natural processes, from tapping into tidal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3845],"tags":[34938,875,34940,7191,34937,74,34939,70,33068,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-69614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-christopher-chyba","9":"tag-earth","10":"tag-generating-electricity","11":"tag-magnetic-field","12":"tag-michael-faraday","13":"tag-physics","14":"tag-rotational-energy","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-sustainable-power","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114440759959166425","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}