Free energy (pseudoscience)

[[File:Water fuel cell capacitor.png|thumb|right|165px|Schematic from Stanley Myer's fraudulent water-power engine patent]]
{{pseudosciencenav}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with [[wp: thermodynamic free energy| free energy]] commonly referring to the Helmholtz free energy in physics or the Gibbs free energy in chemistry, two legitimate thermodyanmic potentials.  These are called "free" because they roughly refer to the part of energy not take up by entropy and available to do work.}}
{{cquote|''There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.''|||American proverb{{efn|The sentence was originally published in 1938 in the ''El Paso Herald-Post'', but similar usage appeared in the 19<sup>th</sup> century; it was popularised by [[Robert A. Heinlein]] in ''The Moon is a Harsh Mistress'' (1966).<ref>[https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/08/27/free-lunch/ There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch]] (August 27, 2016) ''Quote Investigator''.</ref>}}}}

'''Free energy''' is the idea that a low-cost power source can be found that requires little to no input to generate a significant amount of electricity. Such devices can be divided into two basic categories: "[[over-unity]]" devices that generate more energy than is provided in fuel to the device, and ambient energy devices that try to extract energy from the environment, such as {{wpl|Quantum_foam | quantum foam}} in the case of [[zero-point energy]] devices.
[[File:Grifo_mágico.JPG|thumb|left|Something like that.]]

Not all "free energy" claims are necessarily bunk, and not to be confused with [[renewable energy]]. There certainly is cheap-ass energy to be had in the environment that may be harvested at either zero cost or sustain us for long amounts of time. [[Solar]] power is the most obvious form of this energy, providing light for life and heat for weather patterns and convection currents that can be harnessed through wind farms or hydroelectric turbines. In 2009 Nokia announced they expect to be able to gather up to 20 milliwatts of power from ambient radio sources such as broadcast TV and cellular networks, enough to slowly recharge a typical mobile phone in standby mode.<ref>[https://archive.is/qiRVu Nokia researching passive energy gathering technology] (6/11/2009 10:00 AM EDT) ''EE Times'' (archived from 7 Jul 2013 13:12:26 UTC).</ref> This may be viewed not so much as free energy, but energy that someone else paid for. Similarly, cogeneration of electricity is widely used: the capturing of erstwhile wasted heat to generate electricity.

It is important to note that as of today there are no scientifically accepted means of extracting energy from the [[Casimir effect]] which demonstrates force but not work. Most such devices are generally found to be unworkable. Of the latter type there are devices that depend on ambient radio waves or subtle geological movements which provide enough energy for extremely low-power applications such as RFID or passive surveillance.{{efn|And such devices are therefore not vastly different from solar cells. The [[skeptical]] television show [[MythBusters]] aired an episode addressing free energy in 2006; only the RF-capture device using a long-wire antenna proved workable, in that it would take THREE to power the display of a LCD watch.<ref>{{wpa|MythBusters (2004 season)#Free Energy}}</ref>}}

Free energy is a popular research subject for [[fringe]] inventors, but because of a lack of positive results that meet scientific standards, the field has become a haven for investment fraud and [[pseudoscience]].<ref>[http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/08/auroratek-tried-to-pitch-us-a-gadget-that-breaks-the-laws-of-physics-at-ces/ AuroraTek Tried To Pitch Us A Gadget That Breaks The Laws Of Physics At CES] by Kyle Russell (2:19 PM PST • January 8, 2015) ''TechCrunch''.</ref>

Free energy runs in [[paradox]] with the [[first law of thermodynamics|first]] and [[second law of thermodynamics|second laws]] of thermodynamics; because of the relationship of entropy and work, either the amount of mass/energy in the universe would have to increase (in over-unity devices), or the amount of entropy would need to decrease for a free energy device to function.


==But what abouts==
Several ideas are often cited to continue claims of free energy.
* [[Maxwell's Demon]] &mdash; a thought experiment raised by James Clerk Maxwell in which a Demon guards a hole in a diaphragm between two containers of gas. Whenever a molecule passes through the hole, the Demon either allows it to pass or blocks the hole depending on its speed. It does so in such a way that hot molecules accumulate on one side and cold molecules on the other. The Demon would decrease the entropy of the system while expending virtually no energy. This would only work if the Demon was not subject to the same laws as the rest of the universe or had a lower temperature than either of the containers. Any real-world implementation of the Demon would be subject to thermal fluctuations, which would cause it to make errors (letting cold molecules to enter the hot container and vice versa) and prevent it from decreasing the entropy of the system.
* [[Casimir_effect|Casimir Vacuum Fluctuations]] &mdash; takes place between two uncharged plates in a vacuum. It demonstrates a force exerted by the known virtual photon field, but not work. Resetting the plates would require work to oppose said force because it can't be turned off, however, defeating the purpose of using it as a free energy source.

==Suppression conspiracy theories==
{{main|Free energy suppression}}
Many free energy proponents believe that their chosen method of free energy is being suppressed, typically by Big Oil, some other fossil fuel industry, or the government. 
==See also==
{{collist|2|
*[[Fusion woo]], in particular [[cold fusion]]
*[[Eugene Mallove]]
*[[Thomas Henry Moray]]
*[[Joseph Newman]]
*[[Perpetual motion]]
*[[Steorn]]
*[[Nikola Tesla]]
*[[Water powered car]]
}}

==External links==

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoqF3gjLIyI EEV Blog #708 Free Energy Overunity BULL@$&^] on [[YouTube]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/bruceperreault/feed Bruce A. Perreault] on YouTube

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Free energy| ]]
[[category:Energy woo]]

Categories: Free energy, Energy woo