Thanks to Jonas Matuzas for pointing out this video posted on the New Thinking Allowed YouTube Channel which has an interveiw with Garret Moddel, who is working in the field of extracting energy from the zero-point energy field.
A few points that Garret Moddel makes in the video:
Everything wiggles because of ground-state energy, and space itself does too because of electomagnetic fluctuations. This has been generally considered to be a ground state that is just there, that you can’t give to it, or take from it.
He says in the last few months experimental work that suggests that discusses quantum energy transport takes place, where energy can be transmitted without violating the second law of thermodynamics.
He also discusses the Casimir cavity. If you have two closely spaced mirrors, you restrict the number of wavelengths in the cavity. Outside there are unrestricted wavelengths, thus creating pressure in the cavity.
He says that in his devices they have fixed Casimir plates, and the zero point energy density between these plates is lower than it is outside. Adjacent to the plates, they have an electron tunneling device. The Casimir cavity device creates an asymmetry and Moddel thinks that this makes an energy gain.
Zero point energy comes out of the uncertainty principle.
They are having trouble getting traction, his papers are not getting much interest from other scientists or from potential funders.