A Princeton-led team has built a tabletop device that generates voltage directly from Earth’s rotation through its magnetic field. While the power output is orders of magnitude too small for practical electronics, the breakthrough suggests Earth’s spin could someday provide constant, fuel-free energy if the effect scales up. The team is now calling for independent labs to reproduce the results.
I have a feeling covering deserts with solar panels will have some sort of negative impact on the environment. Those are habitats too, although inhospitable to most organisms.
Still, I see you point. It makes more sense to invest in green energy sources we know work and are already cheap. A combination of wind, solar, and hydro should be more than sufficient to supply the world’s energy needs. Although I still think we should be investing heavily into cold fusion research, because that’s still the holy grail.