March 21, 20253 min readCan Earths Rotation Generate Electricity? Physicists Divided over Controversial IdeaExperiments suggest an unusual magnetic material could help harness energy from Earths rotation. But not everyone is convincedBy Elizabeth Gibney & Nature magazine A device can supposedly create a tiny current by manipulating Earth's magnetic field as the planet rotates. photovideostock/Getty ImagesElectricity can be generated from the energy of Earth rotating through its own magnetic fieldaccording to a provocative claim put forward by physicists this week.The findings are controversial but intriguing, researchers told Nature. The effect was identified only in a carefully crafted device and generated just 17 microvoltsa fraction of the voltage released when a single neuron firesmaking it hard to verify that some other effect isnt causing the observations.If the phenomenon is real and the device could be scaled up, it could generate emission-free power while remaining static, which could be useful in remote locations or for medical applications. The authors published their findings in Physical Review Research and presented them at a meeting of the American Physical Society in Anaheim, California.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.The idea is somewhat counter-intuitive and has been argued since Faraday, says Paul Thomas, an emeritus physicist at the University of WisconsinEau Claire. But the experiments, led by Christopher Chyba, a physicist at Princeton University in New Jersey, are very carefully done, he adds. I find it very convincing and remarkable.Others agree that the results are striking, but remain sceptical. Rinke Wijngaarden, a retired physicist previously at the Free University of Amsterdam, has followed the authors assertions since 2016 and failed to find the effect in his own experiments in 2018. He finds the work very interesting, but is still convinced that the theory of Chyba et al. cannot be correct.Planet powerIn theory, the device would work in a similar fashion to an electrical power station, in which passing a conductor through a magnetic field causes electrons to move, creating a current. As Earth rotates and part of its magnetic field remains static (at least according to a 1912 proof), a conductor on its surface would move through some components of the field.Normally, this would not create a current, because in a uniform field such as Earths, electrons feeling this push would rearrange themselves to create an opposing electric force, ultimately leaving charges static (this does not apply in places where the force a conductor feels is constantly changing, as in a generator).But Chyba and his colleagues say that they have found a loophole. Using a complex calculation, they showed that certain materialswith unusual properties and when shaped into cylindrical tubecould channel Earths magnetic field into a strange configuration. This, they argue, would create a magnetic push that the electrostatic force inside the device could not cancel out, generating a current.To demonstrate their theory, the researchers crafted a hollow cylinder made of a soft magnetic material containing manganese, zinc and iron. While controlling for other effects, they looked for any voltage and current running through the device. The result verified their predictions: they observed a tiny 17-V voltage that depended on the set-ups orientation with respect to Earths magnetic field. The voltage was zero when they used a solid chunk of the conductor, rather than a hollow tube.The observed voltages are so small that there are many potential spurious causes available, says Wijngaarden, but he points out that Chybas team has gone to great lengths to try and avoid other effects that could mimic their predicted phenomenon, such as temperature variations.Verification neededMore evidence is needed before anyone can conclude that the voltage truly results from Earths rotation, says Wijngaarden. Physicists could test whether the experiment gives different results at different latitudes, as predictions suggest. These comparisons would not be easy, but are really needed in view of the surprising result, he says.If another group can verify the results, Chyba says that the next step will be to try and scale up the device enough to generate a useful amount of energy. Our equations show how such scaling might be done, but that is very different from a demonstration that it is actually possible, he says.Even if it works, the method will not generate energy from thin air. It would tap Earths kinetic energy and, in doing so, cause the planets spinning to slow over time although only slightly. If the technique provided all of Earths electricity needs, which was around 11 trillion watts in 2022, this would slow the planets spin by 7 milliseconds over the next century, the authors calculate. This is similar to the change in speed caused by natural phenomena such as the Moons pull and changing dynamics inside the planets core.This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on March 19, 2025.