An Irish company called Steorn has claimed that they have found a way to use magnetism to generate ‘free’ energy, i.e. a generator that creates more energy than you put into it. This kind of thing is generally considered crackpot science as it defies the laws of physics as we know them.

This one has an odd twist: They’ve run an ad in The Economist asking for 12 physicists to step forward and test the technology. Until it is verified to be real they don’t intend to try to commercialize it. I usually get my copy of The Economist on Saturday (tomorrow). I’m looking forward to seeing the ad.

Update: The ad and their various claims can be found here. They have forums which appear to be unmoderated which is a good sign. Most of the posters are sceptical to say the least. I will be following this issue to see if it’s a scam or the real deal. Of course if it’s the real deal a lot of other people are going to be all over it- imagine the kind of pressure the oil establishment would put on to quell something like this. Should be entertaining…

In Australia there are serious plans to build something straight out of sci-fi, a solar chimney as tall as the Sears tower. The idea is that you build a multi-story tall tube that fans out at the base to cover many acres of land. It is like a greenhouse and open around the edges. The air inside is heated by the greenhouse effect and rises through the tube which is lined with turbines that generate electricity from the rising movement of the air. New air is pulled into the base around perimeter creating a constant flow of air pressure in the tube. The Energy Blog has a great update on this crazy cool technology that generates electricity without any pollutants or fuel.

But what about at night? They’ve figured that out. the base is ringed by salt ponds that store heat during the day and release it at night to power the updraft. It gets even wilder- the Chinese are planning a solar chimney a half mile tall! Can’t wait to see that sucker. I wonder if it is constantly windy around the perimeter of these things.

A small circle of friends including myself have been looking at all the various ways we might transport ourselves to work efficiently. Electric bikes, scooters, mopeds, gas scooters, etc. Unforunately we live in a cold climate half the year with a lot of snow (well, except this past winter…) so these options are limited in use. Here’s a cool, if somewhat primitive (not necessarily bad) site devoted to electric personal transport.

We also have an extensive paved trail system in the greater Rochester area, much of which runs along the Erie Canal and a lot of old railway beds.

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That’s right, $200 Billion with a B. They plan to fulfill 10% of their energy needs with alternative sources by 2010 and 20% by 2020, a very agressive schule given the sheer size of their need.

This is a huge story for the US because it indicates that our largest competitor for fossil fuels understands that the supply is limited and they are willing to start moving away from it. Meanwhile we have no real national energy policy except that put together behind closed doors by Cheney and his oil company pals in 2001. Obviously that has worked out well (for them)…