The Casimir Effect as a source of clean/green energy?

[d_chappell]

Ok, to begin with my background is in electronics -not physics or chemsitry, so please forgive me if I come across as uninformed on any subject.

My question is in regards to the Casimir Effect and how it may be possible to use this as a source of polution free energy.

My understanding of the Casimir Effect is that is an attractive force that exists between two surfaces at extremley small distances. Similar to the way in which dropping a brick from a height causes work to be done via gravity, two surfaces moving together via the casimir effect would also produce work up until the point they were touching. At this moment no more energy would be released.

Would it be possible that particles suspended in a solution could be induced to move so close together that the casimir effect is triggered? Would this release energy through a chemical reaction- maybe in the form of heat? The by-product would be of a block of material bound together by the Casimir Effect, but since there would be no attempt to pull the particles apart again, energy has been freed up for use.

Clearly, it would take energy to produce a chemical solution such as this, and the triggering of this process would take up energy (if indeed it is at all possible), but might this be a 'green', or at least carbon free, way of producing energy?

 

[russ_watters]

We've had this question before so you can search it, but the short answer is the density of the energy is just too low to generate a meaningful amount of power.

 

[d_chappell]

Russ, thanks for the reply. I will get on the search straight away.

 

[Born2bwire]

Let's put it this way, when you get down to it, the Casimir force is just the Van der Waals/London force. These intermolecular forces have been studied for many many years. Fundamentally there is nothing new here and I have yet to see any serious proposal on how we could extract energy from these forces and I have yet to see a serious admission in literature that such a thing would even be possible. There are far more interesting things that we can do with the ability to more accurately predict the intermolecular forces. For example, dry glues and better modeling of MEMS are promising areas.

 

[PJC01]

First of all, it's great that you are curious and thinking about potential ways to harness clean energy. The Casimir Effect is a fascinating phenomenon that has been studied extensively by physicists, but its potential as a source of clean energy is still a topic of debate and research.

As you mentioned, the Casimir Effect is an attractive force between two surfaces at extremely small distances. This force is caused by the interaction between quantum particles and the vacuum energy of space. While it may seem like a promising source of energy, there are several challenges and limitations that make it difficult to harness.

One of the main challenges is the extremely small scale at which the Casimir Effect operates. In order to generate significant energy, the two surfaces would need to be extremely close together, on the scale of nanometers. This would require precise control and manipulation of particles on a very small scale, which is currently beyond our technological capabilities.

Furthermore, even if we were able to overcome this challenge, the amount of energy that could be harnessed from the Casimir Effect is still limited. The force is only present when the two surfaces are in close proximity, and once they touch, the energy release stops. This means that the energy output would be intermittent and not suitable for large-scale energy production.

Additionally, as you mentioned, it would take energy to produce the chemical solution and induce the particles to move close enough to trigger the Casimir Effect. This energy input would offset any potential energy output, making it an inefficient process.

In conclusion, while the Casimir Effect is a fascinating phenomenon, it is still a topic of ongoing research and debate as to its potential as a source of clean energy. There are currently many challenges and limitations that make it difficult to harness on a large scale. As scientists continue to study and understand this phenomenon, we may be able to find ways to harness its energy in the future, but for now, it is not a viable source of clean energy.