Lightning driven electrolysis Could a lightning bolt be harnessed to perform electrolysis, would a useful amount of hydrogen be produced?
I'm imagining some industrial scale device in the ocean with some hydrogen capture mechanism.


*

*Ignoring fact that lightning is unpredictable (though on a large flat surface eg ocean should be able to direct lightning somewhat)

*Yes lightning is destructive but obviously many things are hit everyday without being utterly vaporised.
Yes hydrogen is explosive but could the 'device' not be placed at some depth in the ocean where either the heat of the lightning does not ignite the hydrogen, or the hydrogen is separated from the oxygen produced by the reaction/and surface air (can hydrogen burn in water?)
 A: Harnessing Lightning via Electrolysis and a New Patent System
http://www.spiraltruth.com/2009/02/harnessing-lightning-via-electrolysis-and-a-new-patent-system/
"if you think of electrode 1 as the ligthning and electrode 2 as the ground then seemingly it would happen. 
however lightning bolts last for a few milli-seconds so the amount produced (if at all) would be very insignificant and possibly even non-measureable. "http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/6375-during-a-lightning-can-the-water-react-forming-hydrogen-and-oxygen/
"Why is it not possible to store engery from lightning, and use this engery later."
http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=2742
1.yes
2.no
A: With some further googling I think the following answers my question the most, in that apparently there is not a worthwhile amount of energy in a lightning bolt to try and harness it:
http://plaza.ufl.edu/rakov/FAQ.html
A: Glad to see someone is still wondering about my old research project. Yes lightning can be harnessed by artificial super cell storms in an enclosed space. Induced by solar panels reflecting heat to gather more electricity while doing so. The sea water can be broken down through a series of electrolysis tanks, the sixety six or so elemements can be harnessed. Hydrogen and oxygen can be either refined or mixed to create more electricity while making clean water. The purified elements can can sent out to make most of everything needed. The lightning itself creates ozone to fix the ozone layer, and far more is possible while doing so. I posted the beginings of a thesis on this asking for help something like thirteen years ago. And lost the patent rights because I asked for help on the project. If there are any scientists who are currently working on this I will give you every bit of knowledge I have on the processes required since I was already robbed for two email accounts after trying to get crowd funded to build it. And googling is there a worthwhile amount of energy in a lightning bolt is retarded. Scale up to tens of thousands of lightning bolts, solar farming, tidal energy, geothermal, and wind farming added to the process of cleanly breaking down sea water into energy, fuels, resources, water, air, ozone, and a 3d printer style automated factory building what ever you need while doing so.
