4 ms·
Something I've always wondered about is whether the electrical charge of the earth is uniform across the entire surface, or of you could harvest electrical powe
by 13of40 9y ago
Something I've always wondered about is whether the electrical charge of the earth is uniform across the entire surface, or of you could harvest electrical power by just running a (presumably really long) wire between two grounded spots. I guess if they don't do it the answer is probably "no", "not enough to pay for the wire", or "Where do you put the meter?"
- Johnythree 9y agoIt is common knowledge that a pair Earth stakes will pick up a small amount of current. Hobbyists have been using the idea for years to run small radios. Likewise that same ground current will screw up Telegraphs (etc) which try to use an earth-return path. The problem for large scale energy harvesting is that the Earth is conductive, so any voltage differences are shorted out by the Earth itself and dissipated as heat. To put it another way, the Earth is a lossy medium, so any signals are heavily attenuated by distance.