If you think wind power is intermittent, try lightning

Lightning could provide electricity according to Brazilian researchers

Science Daily reports on researchers in Brazil who believe one day it may be possible to tame lightning for power generation purposes.

The research, as presented to the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, stemmed from workers noticing that they were getting electric shocks from steam escaping from boilers.

It has allowed scientists to understand a little more about how lightning works – and possibly how to make use of it.

The researchers are naming the field “hygroelectricity”, referring to the humidity levels required for the energy to be generated, with Science Daily suggesting it would be feasible to develop generating facilities in the northeastern and southeastern United States.

But before we start hooking up our DeLoreans to the sky, there’s the small matter to be solved of developing a energy collector – already being dubbed “hygroelectric panels” – that could withstand such enormous and unpredictable deliveries of energy.

Health and safety might also be an issue to think about.

“We certainly have a long way to go. But the benefits in the long range of harnessing hygroelectricity could be substantial,” says study leader Fernando Galembeck from the University of Campinas in Campinas, Sao Paulo.