Re: Re; deriving Power from Atmospheric PD

[Jed Rothwell]

As RC Macaulay points out, this seems to be a Halloween joke. If you put a 
pipe between a high place a low place, the air pressure gradients within 
the pipe will be exactly the same the outside air: rarified at the top, and 
by degrees denser at the bottom. There is no reason why the air should move 
from one side to the other. Pressure changes in water are larger, although 
water is less compressible. This is like suggesting that you can create a 
gusher of water by putting a pipe deep into a lake.

If something is holding back the fluid, such as a layer of rock over an oil 
deposit, then the fluid will spurt through the pipe once you penetrate the 
cover. But nothing prevents air from moving from low places to high places.

By the way, this "pipe" method works fine when the pressure difference is 
between two locations at the same altitude. The air rushes from one 
location to another, and you can tap the energy from it. That's called "wind."

- Jed