Should we catch lightning and store its energy?

With over 8 million strikes of lightning hitting the earth every day, should we be looking to catch lightning and harness its potential as an energy source? Professor John Fletcher from the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications here at UNSW Sydney looked into the SHOCKING power of lightning strikes.

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[uHasioorr]

That doesn't answer the question.

[Neo-wtsv]

Catch it is just a part of the problem, try to hold, convert, store it is bigger problem

[primodernious]

we can catch lightning. electricity is the potential difference between ground and the cloud. if we make a giant tower with a giant antenna with a large surface area we can channel the discharge from the cloud directly trough the collector and discharge it at ground level at a wanted rate controlling the resistance of the current to control the amount of power. when a lightning strike it first establish enough voltage to reach the ground and then the larger current from the potential difference moves between the cloud and the ground pass trough the established conductor the lightning formed at first. by controlling the resistance using a tower one can control the amount of charge going trough the conductor. what we need is a tower with a gigantic antenna that with an enormous surface area to capture the charge of the cloud. we would need likely a giant farm of antennas as collectors to produce continous power flow from the clouds. we dont need to discharge all the energy at once but can do in a sequence. we would need to use a radio frequency and use the charge as an amplifier to convert the current into lower voltage dc that then has to be converted back into ac to feed the power line. the antenn has to be sperated at the top with a insulator part that keep the potential difference between ground and cloud apart to release the energy.

[bradley]

I thought about this myself. I think we don't use electrical wires but channel that using saltwater.

[supertrooper]

what a cop out - nobody cares if it's a good idea... we wanna know how to do it... sounds like UNSW is as clueless as the next man. Someone show me how to do a back to the future/frankenstein.

[mayrbxplayz]

so a field of lighting rods? up to 9, 000, 000, 000, 000MWH per lighting bolt.

[robinchaulagain]

We can catch with battery or anything it blasts. But can we store energy in ionic Form for example in liquid products that is from tower to lake of these liquid which is full of current after and over power will quickly flow to earth with best design systems. Is it possible 🙏.

[jonathanfoo]

Why doesnt anyone mention lightning rods? Dubais burj Khalifa literally collects lightning from the whole of dubai.

[StraussBR]

we could make a death ray with it just for fun

[JamesofJesus]

Until we can direct lightening...and create storage and amps and controllers etc

[_tanzil_]

Does lightning emits same type of electricity that sun does?

[nanmonstaway]

Put copper in bottle place on top of tall place. Walk away, lightning will climb into bottle and close lid on self, problem solvededed

[tylerddh]

I want to know if you can, not if you should. You're a real buzz kill lol

[Super_Boyo]

The obvious answer is no but i still want to know the exact reason why.

[shaseshase]

answer the question, don't explain why it's not worth it

[archravenineteenseventeen]

Its 2024 and im pretty sure we can do this now but obviously not because of we know the reasons

[jasonbourne]

He doesn't even know what he's talking about. I know exactly where to find it, no luck needed. It's struck my yard so many times I've last count.

This includes last night too.

[sandd]

Unless we are living in the stone age.

[bygonewonders]

To hell with electric and solar the future is nuclear