The world itself IS and engine at work. Geothermal, geomagnetic, tidal, wind. It's a veritable cornucopia of energy. We've chosen, as humans are wont to do, to use the "easiest" and most energy dense form(s) the planet has provided for us but the level of resources at our disposal are astounding. If only we (all of us) weren't so damned lazy, and in some respects we all are. Not a condemnation, just a thing that is. Most for least (or any for free, but I digress). The thing about that is, the laws of thermodynamics still apply. That energy was created by work somewhere, somehow, at some point. There will always be a loss when capturing, storing, converting and retrieving it...always. It just "feels" free when it's someone else's engine. Now, here's a question that I don't recall ever hearing asked: With regards to the laws of thermodynamics, consider a battery. Do those laws come into play? Considering ALL of the energy involved to create the battery (and I mean all of it), the fraction of power used by the factory, the human energy, mining ore, every single erg of energy, what's our level of loss, assuming the battery can be recharged numerous times? A nuclear power plant has the capacity to generate staggering amounts of energy, but the infrastructure around it is not free and required energy to put in place. How long is the payoff? How long is the payoff when you include the decommissioning of the plant and removal and processing of the waste? How "efficient" is it? Solar panels, wind turbines, wave turbines, all of it. In the big scheme of things, eons of time, how efficient are they? 80%, 90%, 240%? Is it possible to "get more out than you put in" in that regard? Is it 99.99999(repeating)% efficient, even in the long run? Now I'm never getting to sleep.
Imagine the lowly radioscope, which spins by the pressure of sun light alone. now blow it up to a planetary orbital size, and pack it with rare earth magnets..add motor coils along the equator, and In concentric alignment with the ring driven by the sun. (For maximum power, have it spin in opposite direction to planetary spin ( black:vs:white sides)). The magnetic resistance in the world motor, would eventually stop the world's spin and force it to spin in reverse. (All other forces being even) Everything is biased toward entropy.
