Atmospheric electricity as a new source of alternative energy

The search for alternative sources of electricity has become widespread in recent decades. The threat of depletion of fossil energy resources has stimulated research on the use of renewable resources: energy from air, water, and geothermal heat. The army of inventors joined the scientists working in the field of alternative energy, and today they “flooded” the information space with projects for obtaining “free” energy.

One of the most popular areas of their development is use of atmospheric electricity. Observing the violence of the elements during thunderstorms, there is a great temptation to tame the electric forces of the Earth, to use them for the benefit of man.

Let's try to assess how realistic it is to get close to these forces and use them in practice. To begin with, we will answer the question of Are Earth's electricity reserves really large? Almost everyone has heard or is aware of capacitor. Some worked with them, others remember at the school physics course.

According to modern concepts, the Earth is an analogue of just such a detail of radio circuits. This huge, spherical capacitor is charged and creates an electric field around us.

From now on, you will need to operate with numerical values, as many projects on the use of the electric field of the Earth rely on completely mythical mechanisms of energy extraction from such a capacitor.

First about the capacity of the Earth. Already at this stage there are discrepancies. When calculating the Earth’s capacity as a solitary spherical conductor in space, a value of about 700 μF is obtained. And the calculation of the capacitance of the capacitor formed by the Earth’s surface and the ionosphere, located at an altitude of 60-80 km, gives a value close to 1F. The discrepancy between the results is more than 1000 times! And this is only the beginning of the uncertainties associated with electricity of the atmosphere.

The Earth’s capacitor is charged up to a voltage of approximately 300 kV, with the Earth’s surface having a negative charge and the ionosphere being positive. The field strength between the “plates” of such a capacitor is 120 -150 V / m at the surface and drops sharply with height.

Like any real capacitor, it has a leakage current. Geophysicists managed to measure its value quite accurately. These currents are very small: in clear weather, the leakage current density is only 10 to minus 12 degrees Am2. But recalculation to the entire surface of the Earth gives a total leakage current of about 1800 A. The electric charge of the Earth (and, accordingly, the ionosphere) is estimated at 5.7x10 in the 5th degree pendant. Then the earth's capacitor should be discharged in ... 8-10 minutes, and the electric field will disappear.

In practice, we do not observe a similar picture. This means that there is a certain natural generator with a capacity of more than 700 MW, which compensates for the loss of charge in the Earth-ionosphere system.

Modern science has proved powerless to explain the mechanisms of charging a capacitor. Today, there are more than 10 theories and hypotheses that describe the mechanisms and processes of maintaining a constant charge of the Earth. But the experimental verification and refined calculations show the insufficient number of generated charges to maintain a stable value of the Earth's field.

Among the candidates for charge generators were considered thunderstorms, the circulation of currents in the molten mantle of the Earth, the flow of particles from the Sun (solar wind). There is even an exotic hypothesis about the existence of natural MHD generatorworking in the upper atmosphere. The result is disappointing - today science does not know exactly where the charges of the natural capacitor are replenished from.Perhaps each of these mechanisms contributes to the recharge of the charge of the earth's storage.

And now about the possibilities of using natural capacitor energy. As noted above, the field strength (or potential gradient on the surface) is on average 130V / m. But this does not mean that a tall person has a potential of 260V between the heels and the crown. Air is an excellent insulator, and the human body is a good conductor. Therefore, regardless of growth, we always have the potential of the Earth.

Attempts to use the Earth's field strength for utilitarian purposes have been undertaken for more than two centuries and continue today. The best achievement of designs for collecting atmospheric electricity using balloons made it possible to obtain a power of about 1 kW, and modern, really working circuits, allow you to power a low-power LED or recharge a mobile phone.

The fact is that the conductivity of atmospheric air is only 10 to minus 14 degrees S / m (Siemens / meter). It is simply impossible to select noticeable power from such a high-resistance source. For this, the details of the “generator” must have more reliable insulation. But the conductivity on the surface of the insulators exceeds the conductivity of the air, so the generator quickly "shorts".

The latest information from Brazilian scientists about the possibilities of generating electricity from the humid atmosphere of the tropics is more likely to be of theoretical value. The efficiency of such a generator is 100 million times lower than a solar cell.

If it is impossible to use energy from the surface layer of the atmosphere, can it try to “discharge” the global capacitor? Unfortunately, the opportunities here are small. The atmospheric conductivity was mentioned above. The ionosphere conductivity is 10 orders of magnitude higher, but numerically is only 5x10 in minus 4 degrees S / m.

When the gap is “shortened”, the Earth’s surface - the ionosphere, with a plasma bundle, obtained, for example, from a laser, flows an insignificant current of hundreds of milliamps in the circuit. It is determined by the internal resistance of the ionospheric "lining" of the capacitor, comprising 5-10 kOhm / m. To obtain a gas-light “lamp” 60-80 km long is the limit of the possibilities of such a method. And this is for the energy reserve of just over 2500 kW / h - this is exactly the energy of a charged global capacitor.

There is another consideration against human intervention in the electrical processes of the Earth. They formed over billions of years and played an important role in the emergence of life on our planet. The combination of these processes makes up a global chain of production and compensation of electric charges, a kind of analogue of the human nervous system.

We still have no idea about the many mechanisms of operation of this chain. It is worth mentioning the recent discovery of lightning in the ionosphere. Therefore, to intervene in such a chain, not understanding the laws of its functioning and the possible consequences of interference, is at least stupid. Therefore, even having found the keys to the pantry of natural electricity, they should be immediately abandoned.