Comment on the "Electric Power Generation from Earth's Rotation through its Own Magnetic Field"

Abstract

The suggestion made by C. F. Chyba and K. P. Hand about electric power generation from Earth's rotation through its own magnetic field is intriguing [1, 2]. Due to the importance of the subject, we have re-analyzed the theoretical arguments and derivations leading to their conclusion, by paying special attention to several issues possibly neglected before. The model they consider is a magnetic cylindrical shell moving with velocity $\mathbf{v}$ in the $y$ direction at a right angle to the direction of the Earth's magnetic field $\mathbf{B}_\infty$. First we analyze the electromagnetic boundary conditions when the shell is moving with a constant velocity $\mathbf{v}$, as this point, although of importance, has not been taken care of in [1, 2]. Indeed, this procedure leads us to differences in the values of electromagnetic fields when compared with the expressions given in the cited references. Second and as a result, we find that the mechanical force created by the moving shell becomes different from the one derived in [1, 2]. Obviously, the expression for the amount of electric power generation from Earth's rotation will also be different from the previously obtained one. The latter is important for evaluating the amount of produced power, maximizing it by choosing the parameters of the shell, and for the comparison with experimental findings.