Exploring Technology Alternatives

Slashdot ran a piece today about Steorn in Ireland - a company that has claimed to have discovered a technology based on magnetism that can create free and constant energy. 

Of course if we’re to believe this we would also have to throw out our current laws of physics….a small issue around creation vs transfer of energy.  The two possibilities here are either 1) they’ve missed something fundamental in their analysis, or more likely 2) it’s a scam.  Steorn placed a $100,000 full page ad in The Economist last week publicly challenging scientists to refute their claims.  Their site asks for scientists and the general public to register their email addresses in order to evaluate and review the test results. Interesting that this is the channel that they’ve chosen to approach the scientific community at large…  Also interesting is an internet archive site link from 2002 showing their primary business was IT project management. Not exactly high tech.

The real technology is learning how to efficiently harness all the free energy that surrounds us now - the sun, wind and ocean. 

Business 2.0 has an fascinating article on Roger Davey, his company Enviromission, and the ambitious plan to build a 1600-foot solar tower in the Australian Outback providing a renewable-energy source that can provide power for 100,000 homes.  The design is truly remarkable, essentially a supersized pipe that forces hot air heated by the sun to pass through turbines to produce electricity.  

Business 2.0 has this concept listed as one of their "31 best business ideas in the world".