From Jon Machta
Henry Bortman describes work by Jordan Maclay on measuring and possibly
extracting energy from the Casimir force
(22 January, p 32).
The implication of the article is that it may be possible to extract vast quantities of useful
energy from the zero-point energy of the vacuum.
If a device exists that operates cyclically and extracts any useful energy at
all from the vacuum, it will violate the first law of thermodynamics.
In principle, you can extract energy from the Casimir force in a one-way
process by allowing a cavity to change shape. By analogy, you can extract energy
from the gravitational force by dropping a weight. However, you cannot repeat
the process without restoring the system to its original state—by bringing
the cavity back to its original shape or lifting the weight back to its original
height.
Restoring the system to its original state requires exactly as much energy as
was originally extracted so there is no net gain.
Advertisement
Measurements of the Casimir force would be scientifically interesting, but
don’t hold your breath waiting for a breakthrough power source.
University of Massachusetts
