[HonestPessimist]

I was thinking...

Is it possible to develop and harness a technology to attract the powers from lightning strikes/flashes and feed it through transitional machines that could generate and hold energy and electric outputs?

Something like a very tall attractor tower or beacon in a lightning-prone area (areas that seen frequent lightning activities in the summer) and attract whatever lightning strike that come about, receive and transmit its energetic powers into the technological conversion and generation system before distribution?

I understand that the power of a single lightning itself is unbelievably energetic, very high amount of raw voltage powers.

Is this technology feasible in the short- or long-term development?

[rogerhb]

... alas there is no efficient way of storing electricity.

[TEOZ]

Hey there HonestPessimist,

I recall seeing something awhile ago about trying to do this. I think, maybe, Telsa tried or had plans or something. I also recall someone experimenting with this recently, maybe one of the Otherpower guys. The amount of energy in a single lightning strike is mind-numbingly awesome and a good way to harvest it would change the world. The big problem, as I understand it (which isn’t too much), is storing the energy. Batteries tend to be happy with a slow charge and unhappy with a fast charge. Lightning would be a humongous, instantaneous charge. Boom! Bye-bye battery. I remember that whoever was doing the recent experiments was using capacitors instead of batteries, because they can take a charge instantly.

Wish I could be more help. Hopefully, this can get you started or trigger the memory of someone more knowledgeable.

Best regards,

TEOZ

[HonestPessimist]

Good point about storing energy from the lightnings. Something to think and conceptualize methods of storing these energetic juices from the lightnings.

I mean we did thought and conceptualized the atomic bomb and atomic energy in the past century, what is that just stopping us from developing ways to receive, harness, store and distribute energy from lightnings?

When did we stopped at being innovative?

[lowem]

Something that can store this much charge instantly should also be able to discharge it instantly - the basis for the kind of energy weapons you read about in sci-fi : "ER Large Laser", here we come!

Get DARPA or Livermore on the job, or both. The guys who did the Internet and the nuclear bomb should be able to think up something ... right?

[eerae]

That is a very good idea that should be looked into, considering the huge potential. I would think the energy could be stored in some kind of capacitor system. But does anyone know if a controlled energy release can be obtained from a charged capacitor? As far as I know they are only used to discharge large amounts of charge in a very short amount of time.

[Motel]

Do a search for Todd Livinstone and The Amanda Project and you'll come up with the guy who's had the best ideas on this so far.

Wired Article

It's essentially triggering lightning by using a laser (a full scale model has successfully been tested) then having a portion of the power travel through what he's invented (I think he's called it a breakwater), sending the rest of the energy to ground. Catpturing the energy has to be done either via electrolysis (creating hydrogen from water) or in a capacitor bank, as some have mentioned.

As far as I know, what's limiting his progress is attracting investors to further the research required to get it off the ground.

Even if he did get a couple companies to put millions of dollars into the project it would still require many years (perhaps decades) to get a working system in place, meaning that it would probably be too late anyways.

[Dezakin]

This has been covered before.

Lightning strikes have very high power, but rather low energy. Theres no point.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dezakin', 'T')his has been covered before.

Lightning strikes have very high power, but rather low energy. Theres no point.

[HonestPessimist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dezakin', 'T')his has been covered before.

Lightning strikes have very high power, but rather low energy. Theres no point.

[HonestPessimist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dezakin', 'T')his has been covered before.

Lightning strikes have very high power, but rather low energy. Theres no point.

[lowem]

The things we're still waiting for, first seen in SimCity :

1. Lightning power stations
2. Microwave power stations
3. (Launch) arcologies

[sol]

If you believe in the electric universe then this is the next logical step

Started a thread here along these lines. The earth is used as the capacitor and the charge is received from outside earths double plasma sheath

Is this technology being suppressed? Telsa was close,very close imaging what we could do nowadays with superconductors and exotic alloys

[sub]Like I asked, when did we stopped being innovative?[/sub]

Exactly, why aren’t we concentrating all our efforts along these lines????

Sol

[bob_loblaw]

I've been reading, watching a few things about Tesla just recently myself. To date I wonder the exact same thing. It seems he had found a way to capture, transmit, manipulate huge amounts and potential of energy. Amazing stuff really.. there has to be some brilliant minds out there somewhere replicating his work for the good of mankind? Is HAARP our only example of some of what he did? What do they use it for exactly anyways?

[small_steps]

Read this one on Tesla:
Tesla, Nikola, 1856-1943. Nikola Tesla on his work with alternating currents and their application to wireless telegraphy, telephony, and transmission of power : an extended interview / Leland I. Anderson

The idea of Telsa's work being suppressed is bullshit.

The problem with lightning is processing it and then storing it.

[Dezakin]

The problem isnt storing it, its that theres nothing to store!

Look, how long does that gigawatt strike last? You're best way of harnessing the power of a storm is putting up wind farms, not lightning collectors.

Bah. This is like the people that want to get rid of nuclear waste by launching it into space. Use brains people.

[Motel]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dezakin', 'T')he problem isnt storing it, its that theres nothing to store!

Look, how long does that gigawatt strike last?

[Dezakin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t takes xkJ of electrical energy to create ykJ of hydrogen. Ball lightning generally contains 20-50kJ.

[Dezakin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')n average bolt of negative lightning carries a current of 30
kiloamperes, transfers a charge of 5 coulombs, has a potential difference of about 100 megavolts and dissipates 500 megajoules (enough to light a 100 watt lightbulb for 2 months).

[sol]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Q')uote:
It takes xkJ of electrical energy to create ykJ of hydrogen. Ball lightning generally contains 20-50kJ.


Oh boy, so that’s about .01 Kilowatt hours. Yay.

Just stick up a wind turbine, you'll get far more bang for your buck.

I really wish people would stop and think, come on.