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Re: [Phys-L] Atmospheric Energy



Bill's preference for solar and wind is well founded. If one is impressed by
the ~20kA per stroke of a lightning bolt, and the frequency with which they
hit tall buildings, so that my estimate of 900 W mean power available from
that agency seems too meager, perhaps a note from Uman might serve to
reinforce the idea.



" Dr. Martin A. Uman, co-director of the Lightning Research Laboratory at
the University of Florida.... "Lightning is just really fast and
really bright," he says, but doesn't actually carry that much energy by
the time it gets down to earth". He estimates that dozens of towers would
be required just to operate five 100-watt light bulbs for a year. "The
energy is in the thunderstorm," he says. "A typical little thunderstorm
is like an atomic bomb's worth of energy. But trying to get the energy
from the bottom of the lightning is hopeless."


Brian Whatcott


On 5/4/2012 11:31 AM, Bill Nettles wrote:
This is mere speculation, but it seems to me that the time and funding for renewable sources would better be spent on looking for a breakthrough in solar conversion efficiency rather than capture and storage of lightning energy. We just don't have the components that can handle the surge and actually store the energy released. Oh, yeah, there are a few cell phones that are actually created by lightning. ;o

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@mail.phys-l.org [mailto:phys-l-bounces@mail.phys-
l.org] On Behalf Of Chuck Britton
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 6:23 AM
To: Phys-L@Phys-L.org; betwys1@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Re: [Phys-L] Atmospheric Energy

But a tall tower/building in the heart of ThunderStorm country could collect a
fair amount of Power.
(Energy/year)
.
At 10:04 PM -0500 5/3/12, brian whatcott wrote:
I think the point to bear in mind is that the lightning energy rate is
impressive while it lasts, but it doesn't last.

Br