Lightning appears to be this limitless supply of energy, so why isn’t this being considered as a valid source of our future energy needs. Surely we could have some sort of lightning rod connected to a huge array of batteries to store all of this electricity. I’m sure there is a simple explanation, but I’m interested to hear what it is.
In: 1090
ELI5:
Think of a small cup, being filled by a dripping faucet. The water is electrical current. that slow drip that’s filling the small cup? that’s your normal energy capture. It’s planned, it’s steady. It works.
Now, instead of a dripping faucet, you’re going to use a fire hose on full blast. You don’t know when or where or how long the fire hose will be turned on. That’s lightning.
You carefully place the cup on a counter, and wait. After a few months, the fire hose comes on! The problem is that the fire hose has so much pressure flowing through it, that fire hose is snaking violently around the room, spraying high pressure water all over the walls, ceiling, and carpet. It blows the paintings off the wall. It blows out the windows. It finally manages to get some water into the cup…before blowing the poor cup all the way across the house and smashing it against the wall.
You race to get another cup. Before you can grab another cup, the hose shuts off. Maybe it will come back on in a day, month, year, decade. It’s not predictable.
IOW, lighting is completely unpredictable, and has too much energy. It’s also coming in way too fast to effectively control it, much less collect it.
Latest Answers