arising_uk wrote:
NS's point about using the cable to produce the power is a good one. I suspect that producing a 'cable' strong enough that is also conductable may be a problem, but don't know how the properties relate. Although, if we could produce such a 'cable' then we could use it as an electrical generator that effectively produces free-electricity, as all we'd have to do is take advantage of the potential between the ground and space, and that the earth spins within a magnetic field.
That's an amazing idea. Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch, so I wonder where that free electricity would come from. For instance, would this arrangement fractionally slow the rate of rotation of the Earth? I can imagine that being the focus of environmental campaigns a hundred years from now!