A magnetic motor generator is a generator based on the principle of the magnetic motor. In a sense, all generators are magnetic motor generators, unless one considers a non-moving mechanism for producing electricity such as a solar cell to be a “generator.” But aside from that, a generator (as the word is normally used) is a device for turning kinetic energy into electric current. Where the kinetic energy comes from is irrelevant. It could be from hot gas or steam heated by a burning fuel or nuclear reaction, from moving water as in a hydroelectric turbine, or from the wind as in a wind turbine.

The principle is the same as in a magnetic motor such as one can find in an appliance, but the direction of conversion is the opposite from a motor. In a motor, instead of kinetic energy being converted into electricity, electricity is converted into kinetic energy.

In each case, the fulcrum –– what makes the device work –– is the interaction of magnets. Electromagnets in a motor impart motion either to other electromagnets or to permanent magnets, which move a drive train. In a generator, the motion of a drive train passes magnets through each other’s magnetic fields, which generates an electric current.

In most cases, the ultimate source of energy converted into electricity by a generator is clear and uncontroversial. There is a highly controversial form of energy production advocated by some, however, which relies on the fact that the earth itself has a magnetic field, and on interaction with this magnetic field to drive a generator.

Perpetual Motion

The idea of a magnet-based generator using the earth’s magnetic field as a power source is sometimes confused with a different idea: perpetual motion. If a magnet generator works, it still would not be perpetual motion anymore than a hydroelectric generator is. Both would be making use of a large-scale process to generate electricity without the need for fuel.

Perpetual motion is a physical impossibility. It violates the second law of thermodynamics, which is a very basic and universal rule of  physics. Even a generator powered by the earth’s magnetic field would eventually run down, either as the planet loses its magnetic charge over a very long time, or (more likely) as the “permanent” magnets incorporated into the generator lose theirs. There is no such thing as perpetual motion, and any claim that energy can be produced on that basis may safely be dismissed.

Free Energy

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as free energy, either. However, we can come a lot closer to free energy than we can to perpetual motion. In fact, the earth receives an enormous amount of free energy from the sun. This free energy powers not only solar energy but also wind energy and hydroelectric power. (Solar energy is what creates the air temperature differentials that produce wind. Solar energy also causes evaporation, which becomes rain, which collects as rivers and powers hydroelectric turbines.) In a sense it isn’t “free,” in that some effort is required to convert it into usable form, but we don’t have to do anything to produce the energy itself. It’s produced for us by nature free of charge.

Energy from the Earth’s magnetic field would be “free” in the same sense as solar energy. The question is how much energy could be so produced. If you ask a physicist or electrical engineer about this possibility, you may hear that a static field cannot produce an electric charge. That’s true. However, the Earth’s magnetic field isn’t static. It fluctuates, and it is these fluctuations in the magnetic field that conceivably could represent an energy source.

The question, again, is how much energy could be produced from them. We can use Faraday’s law to generate this amount, and the answer comes up to something like 3.14?10^-9 volts (three one-billionths of a volt) per square meter of magnet surface taking advantage of the flux. The answer would appear to be that while energy from the Earth’s magnetic field is technically, theoretically possible, it isn’t possible to produce it on a significant scale or to generate usable amounts of power.

Research

To be sure, one can never say with finality that something like this is impossible. It is conceivable that future research could find ways to generate power from the Earth’s magnetic field that will work better than our current understanding of the laws of physics would suggest. However, one must distinguish between real research and something that only pretends to be research.

One may find online, with a search for “free energy” or “magnet power” or “power from the magnetic field,” personal, anecdotal claims of having produced so many kilowatts of electricity from a magnet generator employing the Earth’s magnetic field or some unspecified power source. Often these claims accompany an offer to provide plans for the free energy generator for a small fee, say around $50. Sometimes the claims and the offer are couched in a context of claimed attempts by the power companies and/or the government to shut down the offer before it can challenge the power companies’ monopoly or cut into their profits.

The best advice one can give in regard to such claims is to look through them carefully for reference to genuine scientific research that can be looked up oneself. Bear in mind that there are already many well-established ways to generate power at home, such as a home solar system or wind generator, and these are not in any danger of being shut down by the utility companies or the government. In fact, the government requires utility companies to facilitate such home energy systems by providing net metering arrangements by which a home owner can sell power back to the utility for a credit. Claims that magnet energy information is about to be shut down by all-powerful energy utilities or their lackeys in the government seem less than credible given that reality.

A properly skeptical, but at the same time open minded, approach to magnet power would be to remain willing to look at evidence in support of its feasibility, but to require proof of that feasibility before actually paying any money for plans to produce it.