Those Darn Laws of Physics Again

As I’ve lamented over the years, very few of the ideas that come through my inbox are workable.  Most contemplate accomplishing a task, say, generating electricity, in a way that clearly couldn’t be cost-effective.  Approximately once a month, however, I get a chuckle when I receive an idea that violates the laws of physics.  Check this out:

Reader: Thank you for this opportunity! I have a new and tested idea in advancing clean energy technologies. I have found a very easy and cheap way of generating water spouts within controlled structures and use the massive energy generated to produce electricity. I have built miniature prototypes which need to be expanded to make larger structures which will produce vast amounts of clean energy. I am looking for an investor in this great idea, I request your assistance.

I am making a mini cyclone inside a structure. I have been able to do that by controlling all conditions necessary for a “cyclone” to form. As I have been through the first step, the next step is to enlarge the model to produce practical amounts of electricity.

Craig: Please send me a video of the prototype in action.  Thanks.

Reader: Please find a short video of the miniature prototype. The plate with water in the middle imitates a water body e.g. the ocean, and the object at the center has blades which capture the energy of the gentle storm generated within the structure. This object rotates perpetually so long as there is water.

I need to make bigger prototypes with actual electrical generators attached which can generate useful amounts of power. Bigger structures will generate stronger storms with higher speeds.

The structure basically reproduces a tropical storm (typhoon, hurricane or cyclone), so you can generate any amount of electricity from it by building proportional structures. Suffice it to say for now but will explain more how stuff works to investors. I will appreciate if you can help get connected to investors.

Craig: No, I didn’t see the video; nothing was attached.

In any case, does it strike you that this might violate the first and second laws of thermodynamics?  You expect to take more energy out of the system than you’re putting into it?

I came across a near-identical idea about 10 years ago, where the guy said, “Think of it as a river in a box.”  I.e., he was going to cause water to flow along in a circular path, and then insert a turbine to extract energy.

I think you’ll find what he eventually did, i.e., there are exactly zero circumstances on this or any other planet that will allow you to make this work.

Please don’t take my word for it; please build the prototype; it will be an interesting exercise.

Note: I’m fairly sure this won’t be the end of the conversation, at least on the reader’s part; these people typically want to argue with me about junior high school-level physics.