Submission + - Harvesting Energy in the Sky
withoutfeathers writes: The Economist magazine has an article on Flying wind farms. Mind you, we're not talking about ordinary, terrestrial windmills here. We're talking about actual airborne — up to 10km in the sky — wind farms intended to harvest the immense supply of energy in the jet stream.
On the surface, the idea seems a little eccentric but, in fact, San Diego (California, US) based Sky WindPower has, apparently, thought their concept through pretty thoroughly and believes they can not only make this work, but do so profitably.
The article discusses several other ideas for high-flying wind farming including a Dutch proposal to use pairs of kites to drive a generator.
On the surface, the idea seems a little eccentric but, in fact, San Diego (California, US) based Sky WindPower has, apparently, thought their concept through pretty thoroughly and believes they can not only make this work, but do so profitably.
The article discusses several other ideas for high-flying wind farming including a Dutch proposal to use pairs of kites to drive a generator.
