Free energy suppression

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Free energy suppression is a conspiracy theory claiming that certain special interest groups are suppressing, or have suppressed in the past, technologies that would or could provide energy at reduced costs, reduced pollution output, or would or could reduce the energy consumption of various devices. Groups most often implicated in such activity are the oil industry, petroleum, national governments and, additionally, automakers. The most common perceived motive is preservation of the economic status quo and sustained increase of fuel prices.

The theory is often supported by certain environmentalists because of the expected blow to oil pollution produced under such theoretical technologies. Some anarchists support the theory based upon the idea that dependence upon expensive energy is perpetuated by governments in order to control the populace by means of hydraulic despotism.

Contents

[edit] The conspiracy

Supporters of the free energy suppression theory claim that the technology exists today but is being suppressed.

The principal belief is that electric companies, gas heating companies and oil companies would lose half or more of their profits with free energy available. Therefore, these companies then donate millions of dollars to governments (bribing them) to make sure that free energy devices stay out of the public market. Tactics and means of suppression include buying the patent of the free energy device from the inventor or his family, suing the inventor or patent holder and even murdering the inventor in some cases.

Based on the principles of capitalism, free energy cannot be allowed. The traditional economic system contains three aspects: capital, goods and services. Within the aspects of capital are three subcomponents: currency, credit, and natural capital. Natural capital comprises raw material and energy. This differs considerably from the orthodox definition of capital in economics.

Capital is theoretically a fully-controlled component of general economics. Currently, all components are fully monitored and managed. Introducing free energy into the economic equation would have the same economic effect as giving everyone access to the natural capital, which would destroy or severely undermine the entire basis of the capitalist economic system because control over currency and credit would be reduced. According to many free energy collusion theorists, this is why free energy must be (and is) suppressed.

The internal logic of this conspiracy collusion theory resembles that of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy (which, however, is more substantiated).

[edit] Criticism of the conspiracy theory

The main criticism of the theory is that "free energy" is another name for perpetual motion, which violates several laws of conventional physics, in particular the laws of conservation of energy. That these devices are absent in the market is more satisfactorily explained by the explanation that they do not and cannot work, and that the alleged persecution of free energy entrepreneurs is merely the legitimate enforcement of securities, anti-fraud, and similar statutes. It is perhaps noteworthy that such inventors seem more inclined to sell investment rights than to seek patents and/or sell energy.

Mainstream physicists, however, acknowledge that there is a possibility for a machine that transforms matter into energy in accordance with the theory of relativity (the formula E=m·c2). Indeed, nuclear fuelled power stations operate on precisely that principle: nuclear power stations operate by capturing some of the energy released from the decay of uranium into lighter products. However, the fractional change in mass is always tiny, efficiencies are low, and the conversion is never direct from matter to electrical energy, further decreasing efficiency.

There is currently no known practical method of transforming matter directly into electrical energy, and it is not expected that any such method could operate at 100% efficiency, converting all available matter into energy. Claims have been made that magnetic monopoles can be used for this purpose, but monopoles are theoretical and have never been reported found (efforts to synthesize monopoles in particle accelerators have to date failed). Even if a practical mechanism were found, however, this would not be free energy, as it requires the conversion of mass, and therefore would not violate established laws of physics.

The claim that a market economy cannot function if free energy producing sources are allowed is contradicted by the fact that many free goods exist already. For example, air or water, necessary raw materials in many processes, are available to anyone at no cost except transport and storage. Furthermore, if energy were in fact free, then there could (would) still be charges for costs of delivering that energy to the end user (consumer) (likewise, in many parts of the world, water is free in the sense that anyone can pull it out of a river. Purifying and delivering it, however, has profit potential). Moreover, according to established economic theories, significantly lowered energy costs would result in increased economic growth, since the costs of producing goods and services would drop. This has already occurred; raw material and resource commodities (notably coal, aluminum, textiles, and labor) dropped in price as a consequence of the industrial revolution, or when computers dropped in price and increased in power in the last half of the twentieth century. Generally, when a resource becomes cheap, other economic sectors absorb the loss, or new demands will be created.

The American TV show MythBusters examined some methods of gathering free energy. All of the tried methods failed.

[edit] Free Energy devices

Free Energy devices, also called "Over-Unity devices," are claimed inventions currently unknown to physics which supposedly provide a source of significant and usable power. Believers in free energy suppression distinguish these from "perpetual motion devices" (and avoid a violation of the law of conservation of energy) by saying that the extra energy is extracted from some large, invisible reservoir, for example the "zero-point energy field," or the nuclear energy found within everyday objects.

Other purported energy sources such as cosmic rays and cold fusion are also controversial, but subject to more serious scientific research, with several allegedly successful tests.

[edit] See also

[edit] External articles

General
Scholarly articles
  • R. Reece, "The Sun Betrayed: A Report on the Corporate Seizure of US Solar Energy Development". 1979 ISBN 0896080714
  • A.M. Weinberg, "Are the alternative energy strategies achievable". 1979 Sep 01. Institute for Energy Analysis, Oak Ridge, TN (USA). OSTI ID 5809086 ORAU/IEA-79-15(O) EY-76-C-05-0033 http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/servlets/purl/5809086-sYWCF2/
  • Morris Herbert Goran, "Ten Lessons of the Energy Crisis ". 1980. Envirnmntl Dsgn & Rsrch Cntr. ISBN 0915250357
  • B. Bozeman, D. Sarewitz, "Public Failures in US Science Policy". 2002. cspo.org
  • J. Cousins, A. Mitchell, P. Sikka, "Secret Government and Privileged Interests". Political Quarterly, 1993.
  • Amory B. Lovins, "Soft Energy Paths: Toward a Durable Peace". New York: Ballinger. 1977.
  • Edward S. Mason, "The Current Status of the Monopoly Problem in the United States". Harvard Law Review, Vol. 62, No. 8 (Jun., 1949), pp. 1265-1285
  • Jeane Manning, "The Coming Energy Revolution: The Search for Free Energy". Avery. April 1, 1996. ISBN 0895297132
  • Keith Tutt, "The Scientist, The Madman, The Thief and Their Lightbulb: The Search for Free Energy". Simon & Schuster UK, December 23, 2003. ISBN 0684020904
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