leo70

From my point of view this case should be studied with scientific method. Do an empirical test, see what happen and analyse it to understand the dynamic of events. Again, my feeling is that this (admitted that works) will not be able to pay the costs, but who knows?

If you pass an electric current through water about 1 to 1.5 volts is used in producing hydrogen. The rest- roughly a billion times as much if we are talking about a thunderbolt- is wasted as heat. OK, if you talk of heat what about thermolisys? May help in this case? I like the idea of a net of balloon up in the sky so to be able to handle not normal thunder but smaller ones giving them the possibility to reach the ground easier, (without wait an amount of charge so big to generate the thunder). I think that this can generate a condition of "manageable power". About the costs of power from other sources, we can't forget that fossil ones aren't endless

just an exercise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkoAZH5eW1s

to obtain hydrogen and oxygen from thunder: 1) take a pool full of water and salt (marine water) 2) on this pool place two domes (like two cups reversed) connected with storage systems 2) under each domes place an electrode that goes into the fluid 3) from the top of a dome and connected with the underlying electrode start a metallic wire that goes up in the sky supported by a balloon (like weather balloon) 4) from the top of the second dome a metallic wire goes in the ground When a thunder hits the metallic wire starts the electrolitic reaction and under a dome there is oxygen production and under the second dome there is hydrogen, the two elements goes stored in the storage system. I don't think a plant like this should be able to reach the break even point (I mean economically) but could be intresting make a little test on reduced scale.