"Free energy from the air?, Yea, right!" Sardonic skepticism was my first reaction to this unusual concept, as well.

Though, its not so far out there, in fact. Light can be converted to DC current with solar panels, electricity can be converted to magnetism as I did in my last article, in a microphone sound waves are converted to an electrical signal (by vibrating a magnet near a coil), solar rays can even be focused and converted to heat in awesome devices like this! When we think about it, energy is all around us and can be harvested in an enumerable many of ways.



Today, we are going to take a rather novel approach. We are going to build a device specifically designed to sense and capture a particular band of energy which is all around us.



The earth is magnetic and anyone who has ever used a compass knows this. Magnetic bodies in motion produce electricity, we can see this in any alternator, like the one in your car. So, therefore the earth is electric as well as magnetic, by definition.



Can we detect this energy? Yes, we sure can! Ever turn on a radio in the middle of nowhere and heard static? That is your radio picking up naturally occurring energy in the RF spectrum!



Can we use this energy to do work? Absolutely! This has been known for a long time. Crystal radios have been around since before the 1930's and can run with no input energy other than the radio signal. Even when completely isolated, but from the atmosphere, a crystal radio will produce a voltage in the earpiece resulting in a sound (albeit and undesirable one).



Well, this is where it gets interesting...



Can we replicate this effect? Yea, and with modern components like the high quality crystals found in germanium diodes, we can even increase efficiency. By applying this concept as a Crystal Energy Receiver we can take advantage of a wide range of energetic frequencies rather than tuning in to just one.



Can we scale it up? Definitely. Things like micro germanium diodes, high efficiency antennas and compact contemporary capacitors make the components that are required to build a crystal receiver fit in the palm of your hand. While there may or may not be a more efficient way, this renewable energy solution is simple to employ and can be scaled up, or down, indefinitely.



It sounds like we can build a Crystal Energy Receiver. Let's give it a shot...