Energy Efficiency of Lightning
Leah Holleman
Brooke Perry
APES Pd: 1st
What are its main goals?
• To provide
adequate
energy from
a natural
source
• To not harm
the Earth with
unintended
effects
http://www.personal-computer-services.co.uk/Images/lightning.jpg
What is its overall potential in
“making a difference”?
• It is a free source and can be sold for
much cheaper than current market energy
• Lightning strikes the earth 100 times per
second, so there is a huge channel of
energy always flowing from Earth
• One storm can discharge enough energy
to supply the entire U.S. with electricity for
20 minutes
How does it work?
http://images.machinedesign.com/images/archi
ve/70867whenlightn_00000047536.jpg
• A prototype collects
power from ground area
during a strike
• Converted into
electricity and sold
through existing power
grids
• Mobile “lightning farm”
• A lightning bolt carries
one million kilowatts of
electrical energy
What technological obstacles might
disrupt/stall mass implementation?
• Strikes random, inconsistent and highly
unpredictable, thus difficult to set up
lightning power system
• Little research fully completed
• Uses energy at once, requiring huge
batteries and capacitors at facilities
• Powerful that it could easily overload all
but the most sophisticated and heavy-duty
systems
What political/economical obstacles might
disrupt/stall mass implementation?
• Huge cost factor,
even only
considering the
research
• Federal budgets
for alternative
energy sources
http://www.miqel.com/images_1/reading_
library/lightning-shaman.jpg
What are some of the negative
environmental impacts?
• There are few, if any,
because lightning itself is a
natural occurrence of the
Earth
• Possibilities are:
1. an explosion
2. striking a fire
3. large portion of land
used for lightning farms
http://www.stormscapesdarwin.com/use
rimages/swaw06_lightning.jpg
Bibliography
• http://www.treehugger.com/fi
les/2006/10/alternative_ene
_2.php
• http://www.greenideal.com/a
lternative-energy/canlightning-be-harnessed-asan-energy-source/
• http://www.wisegeek.com/ca
n-we-store-electricity-fromlightning.htm
• http://www.nasa.gov/images/
content/150599main_lightni
ng_photo.jpg (background
photo)
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/discoverthis/lightning-laba.gif