Atmospheric Electic Field: Can It Ever Provide A Reliable Energy Source?

[Hlafordlaes]

[I realize and understand that trying to harness storm lightning is fairly impossible/impractical, so that is not the focus here, unless someone has some info contradicting that.]

The basic question I have is this: there is a strong altitude correlation in the distribution of positive (higher atmos.) and negative (lower atmos.) ions in the Earth's atmosphere, and I wonder if there may be some way to derive usable energy from that.

Say, speculatively, we were to place high altitude balloons below which we tether a weight on a longish conducting cable. Would such an apparatus create an appreciable current along it's length? If so, could such a setup lead to something like free-floating generators that, for example, beam via microwave the energy captured to the nearest ground receiver?

I am quite obviously not conversant enough in neither the physics nor the engineering, but perhaps some of you bright folks could either quash this as impossible/not worth it, or aid in my speculation?

Thanks.

 

[anorlunda]

Your idea is being looked at for space-based generation in orbit, but not withing the atmosphere.

Power is the product of voltage V times current I. So even if V is high, if I is low, you don't get much power. For example, you can generate up to 30,000 volts by rubbing your shoes on the carpet in winter, but the spark you get when touching metal has very little energy. A tether in the atmostphere would be like that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrodynamic_tether
https://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wtether.htmlThere are also voltage gradients in the ground. In times like solar storms, they can cause unwanted currents in power lines.