At 07:12 PM 8/30/2007, Hoyt A. Stearns Jr. wrote:
Try this:
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Wind:Ladder_Mills
This is interesting, but the discussion of a 10 megawatt Laddermill
seems unrealistic. 10 MW is roughly twice the power of the largest
railway locomotive. I doubt any conventional cable can support that
much strain and still be light enough to reach high into the sky. I
suppose this calls for carbon filament cables like the ones they want
to use for the space elevator.
The cables used to hold up large suspension bridges can easily
support a load of 10 MW. I recall reading that some of them could
hold back something like 100 railway locomotives.
- Jed
