MadSci Network: Environment
Query:

Re: Is it possible to create an environmental containment centre?

Date: Tue Jan 2 10:27:44 2001
Posted By: Reyco Henning, Grad student, Physics, MIT
Area of science: Environment
ID: 976591965.En
Message:

Theoretically you can create an artificial storm. Many experiments have
been done that create clouds and even rain inside enclosed volumes. I do
not know of any of these actually producing lightning, though. 

Your second question concerns harnessing the power from such a storm.
Although there is no theoretical reason for not doing so, it is not
practical. To generate the storm you would have to pump energy into the
system, probably in the form of heat to induce convection. You cannot
extract more energy from the storm than you put in, so it is much more
practical and efficient just to use your energy source directly.

A more reasonable scenario would be to try and "harvest" the energy from
lightning bolts in real storms. It is conceivable to capture the current
from lightning bolts in superconducting loops, thoughI would imagine that
the engineering challenges involved have not made this a practical option. 
  
Hope this helps,

Reyco Henning



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