EcoWatts and its fake free energy gadget is back in the limelight again, with the BBC Breakfast Show falling hook, line, and sinker in an interview with the company's "CEO" Paul Calver. Calver stated that "we're still getting to the question of why it works," explaining to a BBC presenter his bewilderment at his very own creation. The response from the interviewer? "The point is it does." Unfortunately, the point is that it almost certainly
doesn't. Ben Goldacre used his excellent
Bad Science Guardian column this week to dig up some dirt on the dodgy company, and managed to find a scientist who gave his stamp of approval to a similar free energy gadget four years back: "Using the apparatus provided, it's true, this scientist could get incredible results: the meters would read zero, and yet water would boil in around five minutes. Because the meters provided weren't working." The company that provided this former gadget along with the "broken" meters? EcoWatts.
Ohhh, Sian.
posted November 10th 2007 8:46PM
It sounds to me like they've created something which is unexpectedly efficient, rather than impossibly so. Maybe I'm wrong about the history of the company or their claim, but I don't recall him saying a single time that the product breaks any laws of physics.
It was said before: the device is probably, at some rate, consuming either itself or some material contained within it. If (when you figure in the eventual replacement/recharging/refilling cost) the device remains less costly than traditional heating products, then it's a viable solution.
Ah yes, that famous scientific forum, the BBC Breakfast Show.
Who would have thought they could be so easily fooled...
Why is it that the most useful things any of these devices ever seem to do is heat our homes? If one really did invent a device that could produce more energy than it consumed, or, as in this case, some very potent "secret" fuel, why not power everything with it? Turn it into a steam engine and create all the power needed for the world!
Actually, I think I just figured out the answer. Perhaps it is because they know it is a hoax, and that they would never in a million years be able to sell them to powerplants, but they just might be able to convince some poor schlock that installing one in their house is a good idea.
Well, he mentions "cell" and "electrolysis"...
If (and I know nothing about the 'product' so this is all hypothetical mental-masturbation) the input water was run through a chamber where it was broken down into hydrogen and oxygen via electrolysis, then the hydrogen/oxygen was run into a fuel cell tuned to generate heat vs. electricity (for those who don't know, the biggest issue with fuel cell technology is the disposal of heat and the byproduct is water) and this heat was in turn used to generate hot water for heating while the electrical output was returned to the electrolysis portion of the system to reduce external electrical need, I could see it working as an efficient heater.
This of course does not take into account cell and electrode/anode replacement costs over time, so while it might create heat more efficiently that electrical resistance, the costs over time might make it less appealing.
Basically you are taking electricity to produce a chemical reaction that generates heat, versus using a cal rod (electrical resistance) to generate heat... Chemical reactions are generally more energetic than electrical resistance, so...
I, for one, generally don't discount *any* idea until *I* can directly prove it as hogwash...
Like most everyone, I think this device is fake, but if this company believes he has found a free-energy goldmine, then why won't they allow research-based universities design their own to prove whether it is real or not? The answer is simple, money. The only thing this company can make that's "free" is publicity.
looks like hes waiting to pack a bowl.
I, for one, will make a prediction on this one. IT IS A SHAM!!! Now, you can call me whatever name you like (just don't call me late for supper). It all comes down to electrolysis. More energy is used to break the hydrogen/oxygen bond than can be "created" for use in "work". I am now going out to stick my head into the sand on this one.