Electricity Out of Thin Air
It would be tough to argue that electricity isn’t already surrounding us constantly. You’d be hard pressed to walk anywhere but the deep woods without seeing something powered up. But what scientists are finding now may mean that electricity–at least potential electricity–is everywhere. We just need devices to harness it.
There are many ways to extract electricity from the environment. We have windmills, solar panels, wave generators, hydroelectric dams, even geothermal heating in some homes. But what if we could harness the energy present in still air?
For the longest time, scientists believed that water droplets in the air were electrically neutral. However, they constantly observed electrical discharges–aside from lightning–that led them to think that something was going on. They noticed that sparks of static electricity would pulse out of steam boilers and those who dared to go close enough received a healthy shock.
Now, though, with new technology and a better understanding of the way that water droplets and dust particles interact in the air, scientists have discovered that there is a charge present. Silica, when injected in a humid environment, becomes more negatively charged. Aluminum phosphate becomes more positively charged in the same environment. Moreover, these charged combinations of water and dust can transfer their energy to other materials.
They are now working on developing certain collection materials that would work similar to a solar cell; collecting the electrical charge present in the atmosphere that’s created as a result of the interaction between water and dust. They have dubbed this process “Hygroelectrcity.”
Even more impressive, they want to test out these hygroelectric panels to see if they can suck enough electricity out of the air to eliminate lightning strikes in areas that receive a large amount of thunderstorms. By eliminating lightning, they can preserve the local electrical grid and prevent fires.
While this study is very preliminary and there is much more research to be done, it’s no longer a far-fetched idea that we may be able to suck power out of thin air for our uses.
To read the original article, please go to http://www.physorg.com/news201958072.html