Harvesting Electricity From Lightning ~ Well, sorta...
When one looks at lightning and comprehends its power, it is only natural that we as electrocentric beings would wish to harness it somehow. Up until recently, our technological limits have precluded us from accurately finding a way. Many new ideas have come to light lately that seem possible if not totally feasible. I too have the desire to harness electricity from a renewable force and have recently been pondering the many known and unknown theories and technologies.
It was then that it hit me - like a bolt of lightning if you'll pardon the pun. Why do we always want to harness the lightning? Isn't there a massive amount of electrical energy present in the clouds before the lightning comes to the ground? What if we could not only rob the clouds of their charge, but prevent harmful lightning in areas such as Florida's notorious Lightning Alley?
Good ole Ben Franklin flew a kite up with a key. What if we, with our massive advances in technology, sent up large wire tethered helium disks with a massive positive electrode coating on the top and an equally massive negative electrode coating on the bottom and then safely ran the electricity down the insulated wires of the tethers and safely onto our electrical grid in a more controlled manner than waiting for the whole beast to be unleased upon us?
I can see a future in which such disks and/or towers rise into the sky in areas that experience severe lightning storms on a regular basis - not only making the area safer, but even more desirable because of the relatively inexpensive electrical source provided.
You may call me a dreamer and you'd be correct,
Mark Baker (The one from L.A. moved to LA.)