Hydrogen power is an exciting
alternative energy source because it burns clean and emits only water vapor and heat -- however the tech is crippled by the fact that it takes a lot of energy to produce hydrogen fuel. This eye-popping Hydra Tower aims to solve the hydrogen conundrum in the most
logical awesome way possible -- by harnessing bolts of lighting to smash molecules of water into hydrogen and oxygen. The spire's
sinuous exoskeleton is made from
graphene, a carbon super-material that is 200 times stronger than steel and highly conductive to heat and electricity - the better to channel incredible amounts of energy straight from the sky.
Part lightning spire and part futuristic super-tower, the Hyrdra Skyscraper was designed by Milos Vlastic, Vuk Djordjevic, Ana Lazovic, Milica Stankovic, and was an honorable mention in the 2011 Evolo Skyscraper Competition. It’s meant to be implemented in the tropics, where 70% of all lighting occurs – this includes areas like Singapore, Central Florida, Venezuela, and Kifuka in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
When lighting strikes, the spire’s super-conductive graphene skin channels electricity into a massive array of batteries in the tower’s base. This energy is then used to split water into hydrogen gas through electrolysis. The tower’s twisting form was inspired by the Hydra, a simple freshwater animal. The project also includes a research facility, housing, and recreational areas for scientists and families – which we assume are a pleasure to use when the skyscraper isn’t being blasted with one billion volts of electricity.
+ Evolo Skyscraper Competition
Mwuhahahahahaha! They will never laugh me again with my new creation. Igor, raise the platform! Arise, my creation, arise!
While it´s true a ligtning bolt has a lot of energy, most of it is immediately lost to the surrounding air as heat and thus not available electrically. And has anyone thought about ground to cloud lightning?
Can’t imagine how can they do maintenance…. or even build it without someone struck by a lightning bolt or two…
A_H: Graphene is highly conductive– nearly perfectly so. Electricity travels along the path of least resistance, and your body is highly resistant. Even if you stood at the base of the tower and bridged the gap between building and ground (worst case scenario), the amount of current that would pass through your body would be negligible.
The only problem with this design is that current tech only produces graphene in sheets a few millimeters in size. Creating solid structures is certainly several decades away.
Another challenge: finding places that are struck by lightning enough to make this worth building.