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Irish Company that Claimed to Have Discovered Free Energy?

  • 16-01-2020 11:02pm
    #1
    MrAbyss
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 426 ✭✭


    Does anyone recall this? I seem to remember it causing a stir at the time and then nothing. Does anyone remember the details of this and who was behind it? It was around 15 years back.

    Thanks in Advance.


«1

Comments

  • #2
    bnt
    Registered Users Posts: 12,957 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    Oh yes, Steorn and their Orbo project. Defunct now, of course.

    From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

    — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



  • #3
    colm_mcm
    Registered Users Posts: 73,381 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


    bnt wrote: »
    Oh yes, Steorn and their Orbo project. Defunct now, of course.

    They thought they were unstoppable though.


  • #4
    maudgonner
    Registered Users Posts: 5,455 ✭✭✭maudgonner


    They're now selling new clothes to the Emperor, I believe.


  • #5
    For Forks Sake
    Registered Users Posts: 11,470 ✭✭✭✭For Forks Sake


    MrAbyss wrote: »
    Does anyone recall this? I seem to remember it causing a stir at the time and then nothing. Does anyone remember the details of this and who was behind it? It was around 15 years back.

    Thanks in Advance.

    Steorn.
    Unsurprisingly nothing came of it. This site has a track of all their antics from the beginning: http://dispatchesfromthefuture.com/



    liquidation_article_small.jpg


  • #6
    GolfNut33
    Registered Users Posts: 352 ✭✭GolfNut33


    Remember the lads who were going to pump water up a mountain during the day via solar and wind and create electricity during the night when the water flows back down. What happened to them?


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  • #7
    banie01
    Registered Users Posts: 16,466 ✭✭✭✭banie01


    GolfNut33 wrote: »
    Remember the lads who were going to pump water up a mountain during the day via solar and wind and create electricity during the night when the water flows back down. What happened to them?

    Would that not basically be a version of Poulaphuca Turlough Hill?

    It isn't the most efficient means of power generation but it does give a means of storing excess power production from the grid and feeding it back.

    A giant accumulator rather than a battery that feeds power back into grid at peak need?


  • #8
    Harry Palmr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    Here you go

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_Ireland

    Spirit of Ireland is a proposal to build pumped-storage hydroelectricity reservoirs in valleys in Ireland's west coast combined with large-scale on-shore and off-shore windfarms to reduce Ireland's dependence on imported energy and fossil fuels. It would initially involve identifying up to five coastal valleys from counties Donegal to Cork, building dams on their seaward side and flooding them with sea water. These would provide a hydro-power back-up for the wind farms. The proposal has been likened to the construction of the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power scheme, which was Ireland's first large post-independence infrastructure project and required investment equivalent to 25% of the national budget at the time but met the majority of the state's electricity needs for 50 years.[1]

    The project was first proposed by Igor Shvets, a physics professor at Trinity College Dublin during a 2008 talk entitled The Energy Options for Ireland.[2][3] Following the talk local engineers, scientists and businesspeople including Orbiscom co-founder Graham O'Donnell formed a foundation to further study the idea.[4]


  • #9
    Ipso
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,995 ✭✭✭Ipso


    I wonder what their ESB bill were like.


  • #10
    Heroditas
    Registered Users Posts: 9,441 ✭✭✭Heroditas


    GolfNut33 wrote: »
    Remember the lads who were going to pump water up a mountain during the day via solar and wind and create electricity during the night when the water flows back down. What happened to them?

    Spirit of Ireland.
    Some well-meaning individuals and also some clowns involved as well who talked a load of guff.
    Have a look though at Photonomi if you want a real laugh.


  • #11
    maxwell smart
    Registered Users Posts: 1,939 ✭✭✭maxwell smart


    bnt wrote: »
    Oh yes, Steorn and their Orbo project. Defunct now, of course.

    Fell foul of the Petro-Chem, Military-Industrial, Chem trail spreading, Illuminati run Lizard people no doubt.

    Reminds me of this lady who claimed she could get oil out of rocks


    https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/politicians-in-zimbabwe-take-bait-on-rock-fuel/


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  • #12
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,684 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Heroditas wrote: »
    Spirit of Ireland.
    Some well-meaning individuals and also some clowns involved as well who talked a load of guff.

    We'd be competing with Norway who also sell hydro power into Europe.

    But they are cheaper than us because they rely on rain and gravity and not on paying to pump water.

    Mean while the DUP north have a cunning plan to run a set of jump leads to Iceland to piggy back on their Hydro. But that's more valuable for making aluminium and mining bitcoins.



    How's the Silvermines pumped storage project going ?


  • #13
    The Rape of Lucretia
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,440 ✭✭✭The Rape of Lucretia


    Was started by a guy called Hemholtz I think.


  • #14
    TSQ
    Registered Users Posts: 283 ✭✭TSQ


    Heroditas wrote: »
    Spirit of Ireland.
    Some well-meaning individuals and also some clowns involved as well who talked a load of guff.
    Have a look though at Photonomi if you want a real laugh.

    That’s are the crowd behind Honeworld, isnt it? I was trying to find out more about their system, which claims to be super efficient at getting energy from daylight, compared to standard solar panels. I cant find anyone who actually installed their system. But from your comments I take it I should avoid.


  • #15
    Odhinn
    Registered Users Posts: 7,970 ✭✭✭Odhinn


    MrAbyss wrote: »
    Does anyone recall this? I seem to remember it causing a stir at the time and then nothing. Does anyone remember the details of this and who was behind it? It was around 15 years back.

    Thanks in Advance.




    I think it would be described as "wire fraud" by the Americans.


  • #16
    moonlighting_1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 135 ✭✭moonlighting_1


    I remember the company was featured on RTE news lol. Do RTE do no research.
    Feel bad for anybody that invested money into it.


  • #17
    corminators
    Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭corminators


    Steorn was born out of a sister company that was called Fraudhalt, I kid you not.


  • #18
    jjjulio
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭jjjulio


    https://www.honeworld.com/en/ - this is their website which looks fine and lists plenty of installations including some in Ireland which I assume one could visit. Also heard that some new homes currently being built by Fernside in Edenderry, Co Offaly have the systems installed in them. https://photonomi.com/en/ - the company that owns Honeworld has ex-ESB Head, Padraig McManus & ex-BP Commercial Head on its Board which, on the face of it, makes the company credible and serious. But I've no experience of them or their sytems though the subject of energy use in buildings does interest me.


  • #19
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    MrAbyss wrote: »
    Does anyone recall this? I seem to remember it causing a stir at the time and then nothing. Does anyone remember the details of this and who was behind it? It was around 15 years back.

    Thanks in Advance.

    Their idea was basically cats always land on their feet, and toast with jam on it always lands jam side down. So, stick toast and jam on the back of a cat and you have perpetual motion. Seems like a foolproof idea.


  • #20
    ShatterAlan
    Registered Users Posts: 2,807 ✭✭✭ShatterAlan


    I saw that guy McCarthy in a pub in Dublin a few years back. He was in the smoking area talking a lot of science gibberish to a few punters. I knew he was talking drivel but didn't know who he was until lo and behold I saw the Orbo tattoo in his arm. Yes, the fcuker has that symbol/logo as a tattoo. I felt like interjecting and saying "aren't you the nutcase who convinced a bunch of people you had created the perpetual motion machine?" but I didn't bother. I just went for another pint shaking my head.


  • #21
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users Posts: 40,122 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    jjjulio wrote: »
    https://www.honeworld.com/en/ - this is their website which looks fine and lists plenty of installations including some in Ireland which I assume one could visit. Also heard that some new homes currently being built by Fernside in Edenderry, Co Offaly have the systems installed in them. https://photonomi.com/en/ - the company that owns Honeworld has ex-ESB Head, Padraig McManus & ex-BP Commercial Head on its Board which, on the face of it, makes the company credible and serious. But I've no experience of them or their sytems though the subject of energy use in buildings does interest me.

    this is nothing to do with steorn.


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  • #22
    jjjulio
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭jjjulio


    ohnonotgmail wrote: »
    this is nothing to do with steorn.

    You're right. I was replying to TSQ & forgot to include his post in my reply.


  • #23
    Green&Red
    Registered Users Posts: 11,387 ✭✭✭✭Green&Red


    jjjulio wrote: »
    https://www.honeworld.com/en/ - this is their website which looks fine and lists plenty of installations including some in Ireland which I assume one could visit. Also heard that some new homes currently being built by Fernside in Edenderry, Co Offaly have the systems installed in them. https://photonomi.com/en/ - the company that owns Honeworld has ex-ESB Head, Padraig McManus & ex-BP Commercial Head on its Board which, on the face of it, makes the company credible and serious. But I've no experience of them or their sytems though the subject of energy use in buildings does interest me.

    I would be very wary of this


  • #24
    McGinniesta
    Registered Users Posts: 4,402 ✭✭✭McGinniesta


    ShatterAlan wrote: »
    I saw that guy McCarthy in a pub in Dublin a few years back. He was in the smoking area talking a lot of science gibberish to a few punters. I knew he was talking drivel but didn't know who he was until lo and behold I saw the Orbo tattoo in his arm. Yes, the fcuker has that symbol/logo as a tattoo. I felt like interjecting and saying "aren't you the nutcase who convinced a bunch of people you had created the perpetual motion machine?" but I didn't bother. I just went for another pint shaking my head.

    Interesting. I've sprayed more "free energy" out of my arse after a few pints than your man.


  • #25
    topper75
    Registered Users Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    ShatterAlan wrote: »
    I saw that guy McCarthy in a pub in Dublin a few years back. He was in the smoking area talking a lot of science gibberish to a few punters. I knew he was talking drivel but didn't know who he was until lo and behold I saw the Orbo tattoo in his arm. Yes, the fcuker has that symbol/logo as a tattoo. I felt like interjecting and saying "aren't you the nutcase who convinced a bunch of people you had created the perpetual motion machine?" but I didn't bother. I just went for another pint shaking my head.

    Should have decked him. He'd still be falling now.


  • #26
    donspeekinglesh
    Registered Users Posts: 1,861 ✭✭✭donspeekinglesh


    corminators wrote: »
    Steorn was born out of a sister company that was called Fraudhalt, I kid you not.

    They were a genuine successful company before they went down the perpetual motion sorry, over-unity device route.

    There's a good book about it: https://amzn.eu/f1Jecek


  • #27
    jjjulio
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭jjjulio


    Green&Red wrote: »
    I would be very wary of this

    Thanks for the reply, Green&Red. Is it possible to expand a little on your answer or point to some links or articles that might help. As I said I've no knowledge of them except what's on their website but with the two people I mentioned they look credible and the company has some had articles printed which give them credence e.g. https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/the-irish-inventor-poised-to-become-a-billionaire-and-maybe-even-change-the-world-34593194.html - I know paper doesn't know how to refuse ink...but Padraig surely is a credible source on this kind of thing and he certainly doesn't need the money after his ESB payoff.


  • #28
    Green&Red
    Registered Users Posts: 11,387 ✭✭✭✭Green&Red


    jjjulio wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply, Green&Red. Is it possible to expand a little on your answer or point to some links or articles that might help. As I said I've no knowledge of them except what's on their website but with the two people I mentioned they look credible and the company has some had articles printed which give them credence e.g. https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/the-irish-inventor-poised-to-become-a-billionaire-and-maybe-even-change-the-world-34593194.html - I know paper doesn't know how to refuse ink...but Padraig surely is a credible source on this kind of thing and he certainly doesn't need the money after his ESB payoff.

    You'd certainly think that and the guy has plenty of backing

    I sat in a talk where he told me that his solar panels were a nano-technology which had inverted physics and that the return glycol was losing energy inwards and thus were more efficient. I recorded the talk because what i was hearing was so unbelievable.

    I don't believe the data from his model house, the shed at the back is stacked with PV panels (>100) and theres an electric boiler to boost the water temp


    Like I said I would avoid


  • #29
    jmlad2020
    Registered Users Posts: 691 ✭✭✭jmlad2020


    It was bought out and told to cease production by US umbrella government officials. They don't want this becoming a thing, Oil will become useless

    Source: Ex insider who is family


  • #30
    cdeb
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,142 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Haven't read it yet (on my to-read list), but there was a book released about them earlier in the year. It does look to be one of the country's wackier stories of the past while - especially when you consider how much money they raised for something which was literally, physically impossible.

    Edit - donspeek beat me to it. Although I should get kudos for linking a non-Amazon website. Boo to Bezos and all that :)


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  • #31
    Heroditas
    Registered Users Posts: 9,441 ✭✭✭Heroditas


    jmlad2020 wrote: »
    It was bought out and told to cease production by US umbrella government officials. They don't want this becoming a thing, Oil will become useless

    Source: Ex insider who is family

    Sorry but that's guff. I also know someone who worked for them and they all joked constantly about when everyone would figure out it was all nonsense.
    Their main tagline was "we bend the laws of physics"
    If that's not enough of a warning, I don't know what is.

    There is nothing special about what they do. It is a mix of solar pv and solar thermal panels.
    I have encountered them a number of times through work and they are a laughing stock within the industry

    Edit: oops are we referring to Steorn or Hone? I was referring to the latter.


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