Logic Figures Prominently in Our Evaluation of Renewable Energy Concepts

Here’s the guts of an email conversation I had last week with a reader who asked me for my take on a renewable energy concept whose IP its inventor appears ready to give away for free.  I found the discourse kind of funny; perhaps you will too.

Reader:  Have you heard of these (FixTheWorldProject) folks? Do you know if they have a legitimate device? I urge you to look into this. They say it is an open source product and they have made the plans freely available. However, I have not been able to download the plans and have no way of knowing if the model actually works. If their claims are true it could revolutionize the energy sector, a wonderful opportunity for you to investigate, report to your readers and see if this device is legit.

Craig:  Sorry.  This may be a religious concept of energy, but it’s certainly not a scientific one.

Reader:  The differentiating factor that makes me wonder if they are legit is the fact they are giving it away free.

Craig: Well, I don’t want to sound heartless, but I don’t get excited about ideas that make no sense re: science, regardless of the business model or lack thereof.  If you told me that you were turning Purina dog chow into gold, I’d be skeptical whether you were giving your idea away free or wanted investors to fund a prototype of your machine.  It doesn’t make sense in either case.