Hermann plauson biography for kids

Atmospheric Electricity Research

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a large number of researchers investigated ways to extract electrical power from the Earth's ambient electric field.

The leader in this field was Dr Hermann Plauson who in the 1920s succeeded in generating significant quantities of electrical power comparable with modern solar photovoltaic systems of a similar scale.

Background

It is well known that large quantities of electrical energy are present in the atmosphere and in lightning.

Hermann plauson biography for kids

Lightning was one of the first forms of electricity harnessed in the modern age by Benjamin Franklin in his famous kite experiment. Franklin developed a number of electrostatic motors as well as the lightning conductor for protection of buildings.

A lightning discharge contains in the order of 10¹⁰ Joules of energy. Several ideas and concepts have been proposed for collection of lightning as a source of power. It has been estimated that the total electrical pow