The following are a series of articles on Mag-Wind. I feature Mag-Wind in my book Wind Energy Basics as an example of how to evaluate the wild claims of inventors. I'll give you a hint, it's not a flattering portrayal. It took a long time, but the long arm of the law finally caught up with the promoter of Mag-Wind.
I took an interest in Mag-Wind because I was working in Toronto with the Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative at the time. The company selling these "wind turbines" (I am using the term loosely here) was in Ontario on the shores of Lake Erie and, thus, not far from Toronto. I was getting constant requests to comment on their "revolutionary" design and the press this "product" was getting began to affect my work promoting real renewable energy. So, despite my misgivings, I had to take the time to look into their claims. My reaction is found below.
Most such "inventions" last only a few years but Mag-Wind kept resurfacing and as it did it would garner ever more high-profile "endorsements". This would be laughable if real money wasn't involved--and in the end it was the search for new money that led them afoul of the FBI.
On 26 June 2019 the Raleigh, North Carolina News & Observer reported that James Allen Rowan of Mag-Wind fame appeared in federal court in an orange jump suit to stand trial for fraud.[more]
James Rowan, whose wind turbine venture attracted the attention of celebrities, now awaits extradition to the U.S. to be tried on fraud-related charges.
Celebrities like former Tonight Show host Jay Leno and actor Ed Begley Jr. endorsed the Canadian entrepreneur's product. Rowan was making national headlines with his invention. But skeptics wondered...
Four years after a federal grand jury in Raleigh, North Carolina returned a two-count indictment against James Alan Rowan for his fraudulent wind turbine investments, the fugitive was caught in...[more]
James Alan Rowan was apprehended in Saskatoon, where his parents live. A Saskatoon judge committed him to be extradited to the U.S. to face two fraud charges filed against him amid allegations he...
Grand Jury for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Southern Division indictment of James Alan Rowan of Mag-Wind, Enviro-Energies.[more]
United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that on October 18, 2013, a federal grand jury in Raleigh, North Carolina returned a two-count indictment charging JAMES ALAN ROWAN with securities...[more]
Mag-Wind is back. Grab your children. Bar the door. The dead walk. . . Worse Ed Begley and Jay Leno, those omnipresent endorsers of all things "green", have leapt to the aid of the undead. Their...[more]
The pyramids have always been thought to contain some magical power. Maybe they do. Maybe Mag-Wind has found a way to tap into this magical power, because they certainly are not going to get much...[more]