Re: Energy Transfer (Re: SSTC As a transmitter).

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "davep by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<davep-at-quik-dot-com>
> 
> >But,imagine the situation when someone is possible with
> 
> > source of (only!) 7 MW power to control the flow of
> 
> > waste amout of potential power in atmosphere (that
> 
> > would be nothing else than energy of Sun converted).
> 
>         Imagination is a wonderful thing.  SOME things
>         can be imagined that are not going to work,
>         ever.  Imagine what could be done with the
>         effort/money spent on something that doesn't work.
> 

	I wonder just what this "waste amout of potential power in atmosphere"
really is, and what is its magnitude?  If it is the energy stored in the
ionosphere's voltage with respect to the earth, the amount isn't really
very large.  Typical values given for the voltage are of the order of
350 kv, and the average current flowing due to lightning strikes is of
the order of 1000 amps.  That's only about 350 megawatts. Note that the
energy which creates the cloud electrification comes from convection due
to solar heating of the earth's surface, so this is really "solar
energy".  However, the conversion efficiency is terrible.

  If the "power" is of another form just exactly what is that form? 
Tesla has patents on using "radiant energy", but from his descriptions
of the necessity of storing it in capacitors of very high leakage
resistance, it would have been minute.

Ed