… Public invited to view long-promised energy technology

The Irish engineering development firm Steorn Ltd. today launched its Orbo technology with public demonstrations at the Waterways Centre in the city center of Dublin.  Steorn has steadfastly claimed Orbo to be an overunity technology where more energy comes out than is put into it, defying one of the most basic scientific principles.  The public can watch streaming video of the launch from Steorn’s Website.

Steorn began today’s launch with two marketing videos.  One is a 60 second compilation of public quotations from news outlets including ABC News, Forbes, the BBC and Engadget, clearly meant to reflect some of the skepticism that has accompanied Steorn’s claims since their August 2006 ad in The Economist.  The second video combines interviews with CEO Sean McCarthy explaining the operation of an Orbo, video of a running device, and explanatory animations showing the key components.

The components depicted in the video and described by McCarthy consist of an Orbo motor with rotor, an energy reservoir (in this case a battery), and pick-up coils that take some of the kinetic energy of the rotor and convert it into electrical energy which is fed back into the rechargeable battery.  “What is unique about this versus any other motor is that the amount of electrical energy that we’re drawing from the reservoir is substantially less than the work being done by the rotor”, said McCarthy.  “What we’re offering is not just some new, cool technology.  It is a real opportunity for us as a species and us as a society to change everything.”  He is encouraging those wishing to commercialize Steorn’s intellectual property to become members of their Knowledge Development Base, or SKDB.

The launch coincides with the final week of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, where climate negotiations and recent demonstrations have added to a feeling of urgency in coming to a global climate agreement.  It is uncertain whether Steorn’s launch of a non-intermittant carbon-free energy technology will be viewed by conference participants as a glimmer of hope or as adding to the already confused and highly charged debate over lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Is this technology a true “black swan”?  That is a term popularized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book “The Black Swan” and represents the extraordinary and unpredictable exceptions in scientific discovery most likely to create profound shifts in our ordered world.  These are paradigm-shifting and game-changing redirections that can quickly make obsolete older technologies but which first must fight for recognition and validation before being widely accepted.

As mentioned in a February article in OhmyNews, this author has been a member of Steorn’s private forum – the SKDB – for almost three years.  Now that the launch has begun, the long-standing questions of skeptics need detailed responses from Steorn so that they may defend their claims publicly and completely.   Too much is at risk for such important-yet-tenuous claims to be either shouted down or inadequately defended.

Dates for the launch will be through December 23 and January 5-31 in the new year.

Originally December 15, 2009