Can you harness lightning

What is a short circuit? Can traditional gasoline-powered cars be converted to run on hydrogen fuel cells? Can we use heat generated from an air conditioner or refrigerator? Browse all questions. Is there a way to harness electricity from lightning? Posted: March 23, Menu About Contacts Directions. Newsletter » October » Science question of the month.

Latest Issue: June All Issues ». Payam Adlparvar. This is an edited answer from Why can't we extract electricity from lightning? Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and get insider knowledge. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The five billion joules in one lightning bolt amounts to about 1,kWh — enough to power an average UK home for about four months.

In reality, however, a significant proportion of this energy is dissipated into the atmosphere as heat. To submit your questions email us at questions sciencefocus.