Flying Windmills

Science & Technology (alternative energy)

Here is a possible answer to the questions raised in Saturday's :: Where will the turbines be - 30,000 feet up in the jetstream where the wind is strong and steady. Tethered windmills will rise like helicopters when power is put into them, and then stay up like autogyros spinning in the wind, generating power and sending it down the tether.

the designers, Sky Windpower Corporation, envision clusters with as many as 600 units, generating as much as 12,000 megawatts, far more than your typical nuclear plant. They point out that such systems could easily generate enough power to produce hydrogen through electrolysis.

Worried about airplances being diced and sliced instead of birds? The designers point out that there already are lots of tethered balloons that pilots have learned to avoid- along the US/ Mexican border looking for drug smugglers.

This treehugger is more worried about one of them breaking down and falling- The designers suggest that they be placed near cities but also over uninhabited areas- that's a bit of a contradiction in most of North America- there is almost always somebody down there. :: Sky Windpower Corporation thanks to :: Lawrence Solomon by [LA]