I was reading my good old Scientific American the other day and they had an article on “Kinetic Kites.” These are wind turbines on a kite. They fly one thousand feet high where the wind is faster and more consistent. They are being developed by a company called Makani Power. Click through to their web site, lots of good information there.
The electricity is transmitted to the ground via a tether line. To get into the air electricity is back fed up the teather to the wind turbines which are propellers during ascent.
It’s all computer controlled. During the power generation phase the kite flies in a circular pattern as shown below perpendicular to the wind direction.
The prototype generates 30 kw of power. About as much as an average automobile. The vision is that these devices would be stationed offshore. It is kind of hard for me to imagine.
Below is a one minute long YouTube Video on the technology. It is just so cool.
I work in the natural gas industry and I am strong proponent of natural gas but I’m also an “All of the Above” kind of guy as far as energy is concerned including crude oil. This technology seems promising but I don’t think I would be a fan of a bunch of wind turbines offshore within sight of my favorite beaches. In the right area this seems like it could be promising. Wind Farms here in Oklahoma have destroyed some great views in some of the areas of our state.
What do you think? Are you into wind power?
That is so cool…I’m sending the link to The Hubby. I think he will find it cool too.
Interesting. I wonder what the birds think of this!
There are always great ideas that somehow never come to fruition. This one looks interesting.
Fascinating! I loved the video! I’m in favor of most things that help produce energy, but I do hate to see so much natural beauty destroyed/scarred. Certainly a sign of our times — good or bad.
An interesting idea but what about birds flying into it?
There are a lot of wind turbines in southern Wyoming’s flatlands, where the wind blows all the time and there aren’t any great views. So in the right place, the idea can work well. This kite thing is really ingenious.
That’s fascinating. I have never seen that particular type before.
Talk about amazing!
From the first picture, I thought we were invaded by aliens. It looks heavy, but it only needs 3 people to carry it. Looks are deceiving. I am glad people are looking into new ways to generate power.
They want to put them out to sea here. I’m for that. Outta sight!
I’m willing to keep an open mind about wind power…for a while anyway. Seems like just about everything humans touch ruins someone’s view so I don’t see that wind turbines are that much different. Just saying.
WOW! That’s a very cool kite!!