Anyone know how this works?

[wacki]

http://www.masshightech.com/displayarticledetail.asp?art_id=70730&cat_id=165

power from trees

 

[BrownTown]

wouldn't it just be easier to burn the trees to get the energy out?

 

[CycloWizard]

Wadle became interested in the concept while studying lightning coming from the ground, ?which led him to believe that there?s some type of power emanating from earth, which led him to trees,? Lagadinos said.

Either the Lagadinos guy is just an idiot or Wadle is on crack. I find it hard to believe anyone who could come up with something useful out of this thinks earth is simply 'emanating energy'.

That said, it sounds like it works like a battery.

Lagadonis said tests have generated 0.8 volts to 1.2 volts by driving an aluminum roofing nail half an inch into a tree attached to a copper water pipe driven 7 inches into the ground. But the electricity is useless because it?s unstable and fluctuates.

The tree is one electrode and the copper water pipe is the other. There are obviously many different electrolytes present and in different concentrations, so the amount of power you could generate depends on the local soil makeup, the temperature, season, particular tree, among other things. Not surprising that it's inconsistent. This could not be an infinite energy source as he claims, since the electrolytes will always be reacted when power is produced. Sure, more electrolytes could eventually diffuse to the electrodes, but this is likely a very slow process and limited in its overall ability to generate power.

 

[Jeff7]

It talks about "the natural energy of trees." Okkaaaaay....


"Wadle became interested in the concept while studying lightning coming from the ground, ?which led him to believe that there?s some type of power emanating from earth, which led him to trees,? Lagadinos said.

He apparently hasn't really looked into the workings of lightning. Stick a big metal stake into the ground, as tall as a tree - hey, whaddaya know, it'll draw lightning too, just like a tree! Shall we all stick big metal stakes into the ground, and harvest "the natural energy of stakes?"



"Lagadonis said tests have generated 0.8 volts to 1.2 volts by driving an aluminum roofing nail half an inch into a tree attached to a copper water pipe driven 7 inches into the ground. But the electricity is useless because it?s unstable and fluctuates."

I think he's just rediscovered the Galvanic Cell.



Edit: Dammit Cyclo, I clicked Reply before you did....THEN I read the article.
I'd love to see a school student have to explain to this guy how lightning works, and why a slightly acidic tree is capable of generating a little bit of energy with dissimilar metals.:roll: I mean come on, I understood nuclear fusion's general workings before 5th grade, you'd think that this sort of basic stuff would be taught at some point. Two dissimilar metal spikes in a potato, anyone? The "natural energy of spuds?"

 

[MrDudeMan]

look on the positive side...you could have a 100ft tall AA battery in your backyard!

 

[DrPizza]

Somehow, I get the feeling that if I showed this to that guy, it would blow his mind. But, if he isn't, I can charge a leyden jar via rubbing a balloon on my head lots of times.

 

[DrPizza]

"Wadle became interested in the concept while studying lightning coming from the ground, ?which led him to believe that there?s some type of power emanating from earth, which led him to trees,? Lagadinos said."

Wadle needs to take a basic physics course, maybe? Charging by induction...
I could blow his mind by suggesting him to figure out how to harness the power in an electroscope.

 

[silverpig]

That's GOTTA be a joke.

 

[Jeff7]

I wonder if he's heard about the power of sunlight? Just quote him this - "1000 watts per square meter! 1000 watts!" and see what he says.

This stuff was highly technical.
About 1000 years ago.

 

[bonkers325]

hydrogen free water, anyone?

 

[dkozloski]

Stack up pennies and nickles separated with blotting paper soaked with saliva and you'll do a heck of a lot better than that guy. Alternately, fill an aluminum cup with bleach and a little cream of tartar. Take the lead out of a kindergarten pencil. Use it as one electrode dunked in the bleach and the cup as another. It will light a small flashlight bulb.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

OT: bonkers325 -- aren't you supposed to be a Lifer by now?

 

[crazylegs]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
wouldn't it just be easier to burn the trees to get the energy out?

What a good idea... wish some1 else had thought of that!! Oh ****** they already have and were now running out of trees.....

 

[makken]

though i think that guy's an idiot, but it got me wondering...

would it be possible to engineer a tree that contains nerve cells or something similar that can actually generate electricity? (sorry if it seems far fetched, but i'm not a biologist)

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: makken
though i think that guy's an idiot, but it got me wondering...

would it be possible to engineer a tree that contains nerve cells or something similar that can actually generate electricity? (sorry if it seems far fetched, but i'm not a biologist)

Why bother engineering a tree. Why not just stick electrodes into our nerve endings and get it there? OMG THE MATRIX!!!

 

[BrownTown]

What a good idea... wish some1 else had thought of that!! Oh ****** they already have and were now running out of trees.....

umm, thatssorta the point, its alot easier to get energy from burning trees. Trees are a renewable resource though, you could theroretically use them for power for as long as humans exist, but unfortunately people don't replant nearly as many as they cut down. But still using trees for power is a great idea if you have the land to grow them on. You never have to worry about runnign out of feul, and they produce no net increase in greenhouse gases when used...