On Jun 16, 2009, at 4:05 PM, OrionWorks wrote:
From Jed:
Latest info. See:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/highaltitudewindpower/
High Altitude wind power generation is indeed an intriguing concept.
According to this article:
Startups like KiteGen, Sky Windpower, Magenn, and Makani
(Google’s secretive fundee) have come into the space over
the last several years, and they seem to be working on
much shorter timelines.
“We are not that far from working prototypes,” Archer said,
though she noted that the companies are all incredibly
secretive about the data from their testing.
Without question this is a topic worthy of vortex-l discussion!
I seem to recall Ed Storms once commenting on this topic. Please
correct me if I'm wrong but I gathered Ed thought the logistics of
constructing high altitude wind farms was simply be too impractical.
You are right. This is a really bad idea, in the same category of
putting solar cells in orbit and beaming the energy to the ground
using lasers or microwaves. People love imaginative ideas, which keep
many people occupied in such discussion groups as this one.
Unfortunately, the ideas will never be implemented either because they
are impractical or are, to pardon the expression, not political.
Ed
I don't know what to think about this matter other than it intrigues
the hell out of me. Being able to tap into the huge reservoir of high
altitude wind that can easily exceed speeds of 100 mph is certainly
something to consider. I also gather high altitude wind speeds tend to
be more consistent day in and day out. On the down side, one can only
imagine the horror of watching an ugly cold front suddenly move across
the surface of a high altitude wind farm, a front loaded with
shattering bolts of deadly lightning. Ok, Ben... go on out there with
your key and see if you can get a spark off one of those cables.
I would hope that these aspects of Nature have been taken into
consideration in the design of POCs.
Regards
Steven Vincent Johnson
www.OrionWorks.com
www.zazzle.com/orionworks
