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Proudly Showing Non-Functioning Perpetual Motion Machine
Green technology scams are not new. People have been pushing great sounding eco-wonders for as long as there has been an audience to listen. Does anyone remember cars that could run on water? Just fill the tank from a garden hose and you were off. Recently there was a story floating around the web about a man who could burn salt water. The “technology” was to bombard H20 with high power radio waves. The radio waves split the hydrogen from the oxygen. The spectacular result was a test tube of water on fire. Hank Green did a good job of describing why this doesn’t work over on EcoGeek.org.
Due the popularity of the burning water story and the recent posting on how to spot an eco-scam over at Worldchanging, I have a quick guide to spotting a green energy scam.
From From the Wilderness, via Worldchanging, questions to ask about an energy related invention:
1. How Much Energy is Returned for the Energy Invested (EROEI)?
2. Have the claims been verified by an independent third party?
3. Can I see the alternative energy being used?
4. Can you trace it back to the original energy source?
5. Does the invention defy the Laws of Thermodynamics?
6. Does the inventor make extravagant claims?
7. Does the inventor claim zero pollution?
8. Can I see blueprints, schematics or a chemical analysis of how it works?
9. Infrastructure Requirements: Does the energy source require a corporation to produce it? How will it be transported and used? Will it require new engines, pipelines, and filling stations? What will these cost? Who will pay for them and with what? How long will it take to build them?
I would add to this list
10. Does the invention mention Zero Point Energy? ZPE is the oracle of the deluded, energy from the vacuum of space.
The Stoern perpetual motion engine, which uses permanent magnets as perpetual energy source, (photo above) was in the news last year, Stoern had asked a group of independent scientists to evaluate his machine. There was a long and well publicized build up to the demonstration, during which I believe he was taking investments, and then on the day of the big show he had to call it off due to technical problems. I assume his tech headache was that the machine didn’t work.
Check out the Worldchanging post, Jeremy Faludi has written an entertaining and informative article on this topic.
