Since the Earth has a magnetic field, can it, in theory, be run through a conductive metal coil to create electricity?
Answer
Not really. A magnetic field alone doesn't create electricity. A changing magnetic field does. The Earth's magnetic field does change a tiny bit but not enough to really generate much.
The other option is to move the inductor in the magnetic field. The Earth's magnetic field is quite homogeneous over short distances though so the coil would need to move fast and very far to generate much. This would use more energy than it creates (at least on the surface of the Earth).
Several years back there was an experiment (the Space Tether Experiment) to drag a conductor through the Earth's magnetic field with the Space Shuttle. I don't know how viable this is though because I think it saps orbital energy.
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