Many of us were fascinated with magnets when we were children. At least I know I was. In those times, in my mind, magnetic power had the right combination of magic and science to make it irresistible. I would magically make coins move, nails spin, and make toy cars defy gravity.

Many years later, I am still a fan of magnetic power, but for a totally different reason. It now pays for my electricity bill. And it helps me keep the planet clean at the same time.

In order to understand this, you first need to understand how electricity is produced, which is in turn linked to the biggest misconception about electricity, namely that it doesn’t pollute.

In fact, the process for producing electricity is one of the most polluting practices there is: burning coal. While everybody likes to think that electricity is produced by the natural motion of waterfalls in dams, that electricity makes up for only a small part of the total electricity production these days. The rest is produced by burning coal, which produces big quantities of polluting particles, such as carbon dioxide.

Electricity is produced by motion. When something spins, it has the potential to create electricity. When dams run water through their turbines, the water creates motion. When coal is burned, it heats water so that it becomes hot vapor that makes turbines spin. Even nuclear plants are just used to boil water so its vapor makes turbines spin.

Almost every method for producing electricity ends with making something spin, typically a turbine. Magnetic power, on the other hand, skips the middle man and directly creates motion, being one of the truly few sources of electricity that’s pollutant free.

How does magnetic power create motion? Well, as you know magnetic fields attract or reject certain metallic objects, including magnets themselves. In fact, many children have played with magnets by making things move with them. Movement happens when the force of the magnetic field is stronger than others forces that are acting on an object, with gravity typically being the strongest and most important of them all.

Now, if an object that’s affected by magnetic fields was caught in the middle of several of them, it would tend to move erratically. If the object was fixed over an axis, it will spin, creating motion.

The exact process is a bit more complicated, but not much. In any case, thanks to magnetic power, my electricity bill has been the lowest in years. I recommend you try it by getting one of those manuals that explain how to build your own machine at home.

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