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The Highest-Flying Wind Turbine

Posted by Soulskill on from the not-recommended-for-hurricane-areas dept.

Daniel_Stuckey writes: "In far-flung rural Alaska, where electricity can cost as much as $1 per kilowatt hour — more than 10 times the national average, according to the New York Times — a wind turbine encased in a giant helium balloon is about to break a world record. The Bouyant Air Turbine (BAT) is about to be floated 1,000 feet into the air in the name of cleaner, cheaper, and mobile energy. That single airborne grouper—it's sort of a hybrid of a blimp, a kite, and a turbine—will power over a dozen homes. The BAT is the brainchild of Altaeros, a company founded by MIT alumni, and, if everything goes according to plan, it's going to be the highest-flying power generator in history. Since winds blow stronger and more consistently the higher above the ground you go, and the hovering BAT harnesses that gale and sends electricity down to earth through the high-strength tethers that also hold the machine steady. "

4 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Helium by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Informative
    You're correct about the helium scarcity, but a wind sail generator such as this could probably be modified to produce it's own heated air to stay aloft, a technology already in widespread use in ballooning.

    If you check out one article this week, make it this one... these things are crafty cool.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  2. Re:hm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    yes, and the answer is - high voltage

  3. Re:Helium by IJ+Hull · · Score: 5, Informative

    Search for "hydrogen cooled electrical generator" .. you statement 'Hydrogen and electrical generation generally do not mix' is really really wrong. Don't like giving GE free adds, but.. http://www.ge-energy.com/produ...

  4. Re:Helium by jb11 · · Score: 3, Informative

    a) From the pictures it doesn't look like it goes high enough for a parachute to be effective.

    It says that they will be floating at 1000ft. I believe you can deploy a parachute down to a couple hundred feet.