Lightning is extremely powerful, but because it happens in just a fraction of a second and is so hot, we do not use it as a power source. what if we could? let's figure out how long the energy from a lightning strike could power some things. assumptions assume the lightning strike contains a total of 10 billion joules (10,000,000,000 joules) 1 kwh-3.6*106 joules. a kilowatt hour (kwh) i̇s a unit of energy and is equal to a 1000w * 1 hour questions 1. i am typing this question on a macbook pro. it's battery will last 10 hours and it consumes 20 watts of power 2. in reality, only 1% of the total energy from a strike is electrical. so if i could only store 1% of the total energy 3. a common question about lightning power is "how long can a lightning strike power a 60w lightbulb? " if 4. led technology has revolutionized lighting by reducing the total power needed to produce the equivalent while it is on. if i could store all the energy in a lightning strike and use it to repeatedly charge my macbook pro battery, how many total hours of use could i get out of one lightning strike's worth of energy? in the lightning strike, how many total hours of use could i get out of one lightning strike to power my macbook pro? you could use all 10 billion joules from the lightning strike, how long could it power a light bulb? light from a 60w lightning bulb. if an led light bulb only needs 8w to produce the same amount of light as a 60w incandescent bulb, how long can all the energy from a lightning strike power an led bulb?