The invention relates to a method and a device for generating Alfven waves, in which ionizable material is provided that penetrates a magnetic field. In order to create such a method or a device in which material can be conveyed based on the Alfven waves, the magnetic field consists of a primary magnetic field that is periodically deformed by at least one oscillating secondary magnetic field that is polarized in the opposite direction from the primary field such that Alfven waves are created in the ionizable material located in said magnetic field. The Alfven waves propagate at a speed that depends on the density of the material penetrating the magnetic field and the field intensity of the magnetic field. The field intensity of the magnetic field is greater than the kinetic energy of the material located in the magnetic field such that material is conveyed by means of the Alfven waves.