[I apologize if I’m incorrect to post this as a new thread here, since it’s basically an “Ask Cecil” comment prompted by this topic; I trust this will be moved to the proper location, if so.]
The purpose of a lightning rod is to attract and dissipate lightning strikes to prevent damage to persons and property. (duh)
But is it possible to capture the electrical energy of lighning strikes? Obviously, lightning strikes so randomly and infrequently at a given point that, say, an individual homeowner isn’t likely to benefit from a gizmo that could store electrical energy for use.
But I’m curious whether anyone has ever attempted to develop technology that could harness lightning to take advantage of all that “free” electrical energy instead of dissipating it, or whether it’s simply too impractical to bother.