Does the Earth Have a Net Electric Charge, and Can That Be Tapped?

[ResinRat2]

This idea may be foolish, but it just came to me on a crazy whim. I am throwing it out there for opinions and ideas, or simply to tell me why this won't work.

We all know that all our electrical connections go from high potential to low, and that every building has a rod in the earth that is the grounding rod. I was pondering what happens to the electrical energy that goes to ground? Is it just dissipated as heat, or does the electrical potential simply become absorbed into the total net charge of the planet Earth.

Is the electrical energy absorbed into the ground building up over time and dissipating into the earth; and if that energy still exists in the earth, can it be retapped and used again?

My thought was that the upper layers of the earth where all these grounding rods are sitting is retaining the electrical charges, and that by tapping from an upper level of the earth, close to the surface, and then connecting to a lower (much deeper) grounding rod that is insulated over its entire length except at its very (underground) tip, that an electrical potential would exist that could be tapped?

Maybe the earth simply doesn't have an electrical charge, I don't know; but if you go down very deep, say a hundred feet or deeper, you pass layers of rock and groundwater and these act as insulating layers from above. Giving a deeper and insulated ground that can be used to give flow to electrical discharges closer to the surface of the earth.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I value your opinions on this.

RR2

[bourne]

Maybe ask an oil well driller. Ask them if they have experienced something akin to a 'static' shock from the drilling equipment.

I do understand your thinking RR2, the charge has to go somewhere.

[Moab]

i can help with that.@ RR2 Yes indeed there is a DC potential.  it is enough to cause electrolysis issues for gas lines. do some google searching you'll find some articles on the subject. I never tried to light a LED, maybe i need to.  no static shock or potential buildup that you can feel or anything like that. but its there and over time it does cause issues.

Maybe ask an oil well driller. Ask them if they have experienced something akin to a 'static' shock from the drilling equipment.

I do understand your thinking RR2, the charge has to go somewhere.

[mscoffman]

The power distribution system in two countries are different,
the US has an unbalance ground referenced system and Great
Britain has a balance ungrounded system. But just because
the US has a ground referenced system doesn't mean you
want power currents to flow there. I was looking at HV undersea
DC cables. South Korea has one and they specify in the
document the size of a fenced in "electrode lagoon" at each end for
the ground referencing the system. So power can flow in the ground.
But it's usually reserved for fault currents. Note that power levels are
going to drop with 1/2Radius Squared like EMF radio signals. So the
power signal would drop off in magnitude in an equivalent fashion
to the transmission signal of a powerful radio/TV station.
It gets to microvolt levels before very long. This is consistent with
the threat of lightning current being intercepted from the ground -
not all that great.

If earth has a charge it has to relative to something and that
something is the Sun. Lightning storms and solar ions cause
"Sky return Currents" which can be intercepted to generate electricity
but the ground really is a neutral reference in most cases.

:S:MarkSCoffman

[IotaYodi]

If earth has a charge it has to relative to something and that
something is the Sun

And the Cosmos and yes the Earth has charge. Like Mark said the ground is used for a fault. A circuit bypass if you will. Thats the only time it carrys current by standard electrical distribution. A Hot wire and Neutral are the current carriers with the neutral being the return completing the circuit.

http://www.xearththeory.com/introdis_earth_electromagnetic_coil_transformers_step_up_down.html