The tech is cool. The function however is THEFT.
No different than a banking system hacker who catches the round-down of fractional cents. It’s still stealing.
I remember a chicken farmers who buried some parasitic lines under a hi voltage transmission line running through his farm. He used the power to heat the chicken coops. IIRC, he was arrested, fined and had to pay for the power he took.
That farmer was doing the same kind of thing as this Professor.
This is more like me picking up a bottle you tossed out of your car and using it for some purpose.
Nonsense.
I can go stand under a high-tension power line, and a sensitive fluorescent bulb will light up.
Does this drain power from the line? Nope. It just captures some of the power that is already overflowing from the line and uses it.
It’s similar to a radio station. It uses the same amount of power whether one set is receiving or a a million. Just isn’t relevant.
Or it’s like capturing and using waste heat from an AC system to heat domestic hot water. It doesn’t increase energy usage of the system, since that heat just disippates in the air if it isn’t captured.