Refutation of [Chyba and Hand, Phys. Rev. Applied 6, 014017 (2016)]: No Electric Power can be Generated from Earth's Rotation through its Own Magnetic Field

Abstract

In a recent article [Phys. Rev. Applied 6, 014017 (2016)], Chyba and Hand propose a new scheme to generate electric power continuously at the expense of Earth's kinetic energy of rotation, by using an appropriately shaped cylindrical shell of a well chosen conducting ferrite, rigidly attached to the Earth. No experimental confirmation is reported for the new prediction. In the present Refutation, I first use today's standard electromagnetism and essentially the same model as Chyba and Hand to show in a very simple way that no device of the proposed type can produce continuous electric power, whatever its configuration or size, in agreement with widespread expectation. Next, I show that the prediction of non-zero continuous power by Chyba and Hand results from a confusion of frames of reference at a critical step of their derivation. When the confusion is clarified, the prediction becomes exactly zero and the article under discussion appears as pointless. At the end, I comment about the persistent invocation by Chyba and Hand of the misleading legacy notion that quasi-static magnetic fields have an intrinsic velocity, and other questionable concepts.