Lightning strike how much energy

Further, to obtain that 1 million joules, one would have to handle a voltage of several million volts. Absorbing lightning and converting it to useful energy would be an extraordinary challenge, Kirtley explains.

It would require complex capture and storage facilities and distribution systems that in the end would unlikely yield enough energy to justify their expense.

To start with, attracting a lightning bolt would take much more sophisticated equipment than an iron key at the end of a silk string. Tall metallic rods extending high above the ground would do the trick, drawing any electrical charges in the atmosphere and directing them into a facility.

But robust and dependable safety mechanisms would also need to be built to immediately contain the huge burst of energy and prevent the entire facility from being blown to bits. Animals Whales eat three times more than previously thought. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big.

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Multiply these two numbers, and you have 4. At best. Could this few percent be realistically used? To answer this, we need to look at the practicalities of capturing and using the energy. First, we can imagine that the United States would probably have to restrict itself to domestic lightning sources. This limits us to about 30 million bolts per year. What other alternative sources of power are there?

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