You know. Doc Brown style. Into a flux capacitor...
June 24, 2008 5:04 PM Subscribe
Is anyone working on harvesting the energy of lightning?
It seems like it would be a great technological breakthrough and might alleviate some of our energy needs (a green technology if there ever was one). Surely someone (Tesla?) has made attempts at harnessing this natural resource...
Any links/thoughts will be welcome.
It seems like it would be a great technological breakthrough and might alleviate some of our energy needs (a green technology if there ever was one). Surely someone (Tesla?) has made attempts at harnessing this natural resource...
Any links/thoughts will be welcome.
It's like 50 watts per acre, when you distribute a few lightning strikes over an entire month and a patch of land. (citation needed)
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:08 PM on June 24, 2008
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:08 PM on June 24, 2008
An interesting calculation to do would be the relative power released by lightning (per acre per month or whatever) compared the the power released by falling rainwater. I would think that, even neglecting engineering and material costs, you could get much more energy from a system of roofs and gutters draining to waterwheels.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:02 PM on June 24, 2008
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:02 PM on June 24, 2008
A little Google work turned up this lengthy and apparently well cited wiki article on the subject.
If any energy source isn't being exploited by now, there are usually plenty of reasons.
On preview, Comrade_robot wins.
posted by Ookseer at 7:15 PM on June 24, 2008
If any energy source isn't being exploited by now, there are usually plenty of reasons.
On preview, Comrade_robot wins.
posted by Ookseer at 7:15 PM on June 24, 2008
Why can't we capture lightning and convert it into usable electricity?
Not that much energy in them, all things considered, and then add the reliability and storage problems on top, and it's just not feasible.
posted by chrisamiller at 7:53 PM on June 24, 2008
Not that much energy in them, all things considered, and then add the reliability and storage problems on top, and it's just not feasible.
posted by chrisamiller at 7:53 PM on June 24, 2008
If you have the capability to predict the presence of lightning to the point where it's economically feasible to harness it, you're probably also capable of several other technological gymnastics that make harnessing lighting beside the point.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:44 PM on June 24, 2008
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:44 PM on June 24, 2008
(I hope this doesn't count as a derail, but why can't we store energy? I thought energy storing was in the bag - I've got batteries *full* of energy all over my house!)
posted by moxiedoll at 8:52 PM on June 24, 2008
posted by moxiedoll at 8:52 PM on June 24, 2008
why can't we store energy? I thought energy storing was in the bag - I've got batteries *full* of energy all over my house!)
The short answer is that batteries are not very efficient and current technologies do not scale well. The batteries around your house are absolutely puny in comparison to your household's day-to-day needs. Refrigerator? Air conditioner? Nevermind the power it takes to light up a city. Moreover, chemical batteries are, you know, chemical in nature. Not exactly friendly to the environment.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:00 PM on June 24, 2008
The short answer is that batteries are not very efficient and current technologies do not scale well. The batteries around your house are absolutely puny in comparison to your household's day-to-day needs. Refrigerator? Air conditioner? Nevermind the power it takes to light up a city. Moreover, chemical batteries are, you know, chemical in nature. Not exactly friendly to the environment.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:00 PM on June 24, 2008
The LA department of water and power has a neat trick where they pump water up from a lower reservoir to a higher one when power is cheap (off peak), and use the water flow back down to generate power during peak times. But there is a lot of inefficiency in the process, it's more of a load averaging solution than a power storage one.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:21 AM on June 25, 2008
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:21 AM on June 25, 2008
The LA department of water and power has a neat trick where they pump water up from a lower reservoir to a higher one when power is cheap (off peak), and use the water flow back down to generate power during peak times.
I think a lot of hydro plants do that. But they can do it because there are quite regular, well-defined peak and off peak times (pretty much day and night). Also you require two big water reservoirs to do it.
why can't we store energy?
Yeah household batteries are horribly inefficient. Industrial solutions are still not good enough to allow us to use renewable energy as well as we might. This is one reason why people point out that renewable energy souces should be as varied as possible: since you can't store energy you might be able to even out the production a bit by using different types of source. Since renewables became trendy there is a lot of research into the energy storage problem going on (fuel cell type things, flywheels, etc), and it might turn something interesting up in the next 10-15 years.
posted by theyexpectresults at 5:03 AM on June 25, 2008
I think a lot of hydro plants do that. But they can do it because there are quite regular, well-defined peak and off peak times (pretty much day and night). Also you require two big water reservoirs to do it.
why can't we store energy?
Yeah household batteries are horribly inefficient. Industrial solutions are still not good enough to allow us to use renewable energy as well as we might. This is one reason why people point out that renewable energy souces should be as varied as possible: since you can't store energy you might be able to even out the production a bit by using different types of source. Since renewables became trendy there is a lot of research into the energy storage problem going on (fuel cell type things, flywheels, etc), and it might turn something interesting up in the next 10-15 years.
posted by theyexpectresults at 5:03 AM on June 25, 2008
Batteries are not horribly inefficient regarding energy in vs energy out, particularly if you compare them to something like a natural gas fired powerplant. They are horrible as far as energy density in terms of either volume or weight when compared to fossils fuels. They are also very expensive when compared to the cost of a tank that would hold a similar quantity of energy in the form of a fossil fuel.
posted by Good Brain at 12:15 PM on June 25, 2008
posted by Good Brain at 12:15 PM on June 25, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
Lightning is so incredibly quick that it would be almost useless as an energy source
Wouldn't it make more sense to tap the potential difference that creates lightning before the lighting forms naturally?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:06 PM on June 24, 2008