I once proposed a scheme to take a giant gyroscope and tap into the earths rotational energy...

Talk about non-sustainable! Your contraption will slow the earth's rotation over time, inevitably making the world completely inhospitable. Far worse than fossil fuels.

You'd be able to capture 2.138×10^29 J before the world stops, and it would take roughly 377M years to do so, but once it's gone, there's no way to put it back.

 

Yes but before we get to that point we could do the same to Venus which is .98 the size of earth( same with gravity ) Venus' day is about 150 earth days give or take, of course the ocean and atmosphere of sulfuric acid might present a minor issue, No one can accuse me of not thinking big.

Personally I think perfecting fusion is the way to go, If we don't cook the earth with waste heat. Global warming anyone?

 

I would have to agree. Nuclear energy does seem to be the most promising. Aside from free energy, of course.

 

You have to dream, which is where innovation comes from. but it is important to keep it practical.

It's not about what's possible, it's about what's probable.

 

Or more correctly profitable.

 

Or more correctly profitable.

Are you suggesting those who produce energy should do it out of the kindness of their hearts?

What about those who produce cellphones and big screen TVs?

 

Or more correctly profitable.

I was looking at the energy from lightning problem from a physics standpoint. There is a possibility of making something work but the probability of it happening at a usable scale even with profitability be damned is very low.

 

Solar Panels didn't used to be profitable, or wind farms, last I checked they are alive and well, Electricity is not a luxury item any more.

The idea of profit motivates people to do all sorts of things.

 

Solar Panels didn't used to be profitable, or wind farms, last I checked they are alive and well,

And they will continue to thrive as long as taxpayers and consumers are forced to subsidize them.

 

Solar Panels didn't used to be profitable, or wind farms, last I checked they are alive and well, Electricity is not a luxury item any more.

That's apples and oranges in the physics of energy capture. Solar panels for 50 years and wind farms for 100 year have been engineering problems because they both offer source easy direct conversion to current electricity from a fairly constant energy source at easily engineered energy source parameters. Lightning is NOT a current electricity source, it is not fairly constant and is instead extremely transient in nature with very hard to engineer energy source parameters.

 

I think nuclear is clearly superior to solar and wind. If there are enforced regulations and proper waste disposal, there are very few issues.

 

I suspect fusion when it comes will have waste issues Humans in general are sloppy.

 

Humans in general are sloppy.

So, bears do not, in fact, shit in the woods?

 

First, do not read Wikipedia!
Second, I am only guessing, but this is my idea. Like the previous posts suggested, its not possible directly. If you put a metal pole made in certain ways that are not public, the hit will generate electricity or heat, and the pole should be made in such a way that the lightning energy does not get directly grounded, but moves a longer path through the pole, since storing it directly is not likely.

The other option is, the very short pole to be connected to a water container, so when the lightning hits the pole, the pole is connected to the water and the water starts evaporating.

I think if you have a big and long heater, made like a coil and powered by lightning, you can put it in water, so it evaporates it.

According to a very reliable source (Wikipedia), a lightning discharge is typically around a gigavolt and 30-400kA, for 10s of uS. Preceding that, there is 100s of mS of establishing an ion channel. There are 100s of amps there. If my very reliable source is completely wrong, please let me know. But regardless, it is still a HUGE amount of power, even when you account for time and Wikepedia.

So shouldn't there be some way to convert this energy into stored energy and then use it to power a city or whatever? I know that you would need 50 feet of teflon to insulate a gigavolt, but even with these challenges wouldn't there be some way? Is there any research on the subject or promising ideas, or is it just too impractical with such high voltages? And even if this is not possible, would it be possible to make a high voltage capacitor or something to do lightning tests later or for other scientific purposes where extremely high voltage is needed?

Live Wire

 

Flying a kite-by-wire and a proper capacitor instead of the key that guy used will collect lightning charges, until...

 

Flying a kite-by-wire and a proper capacitor instead of the key that guy used will collect lightning charges, until...

You would need a Flux-capacitor.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-capacitor

 

You would need a Flux-capacitor.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-capacitor

That website asked to know my location as soon as I visited it!

 

That website asked to know my location as soon as I visited it!

That's how they trap all time travelers.

 

lol

 

lol

If you want one without the time travel tracking, try here: http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?mai...8&products_id=21&zenid=U,TjavH41C3SPx66tsdHY3

They also make the best 710 caps.