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Eco Energy: Kites to harness wind power for producing mass energy

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Eco Factor: Kites with rotors placed in the upper atmosphere use high velocity winds to generate energy that could theoretically be sufficient to power the entire planet.

Wind energy has always been frowned upon as an energy source that is unreliable and just economically viable enough to expand on to broader horizons. The volatile nature of winds and their irregular pace and patterns, have driven all the money pouring in for research towards solar energy. But modern designers plan to change all that by putting wind turbines in the upper realms of the atmosphere. Bryan Roberts, is an engineering professor at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and is actively involved in research for better wind harnessing techniques. He has designed kites with rotors that not just provide wind power but can power themselves up to the altitude required.

These helicopter-styled wind turbines sport giant rotating blades that initially lift it to the best possible height for generation of wind energy. Then, they work as giant floating turbines and shift to energy production mode. Estimates show that energy from the farms of such turbines, at high altitude would be enough to run the entire planet on clean wind energy.

The Dark Side:

Like so many other “Kite-Wind Turbine” projects, this has a long way to go before it can be taken seriously. The potential is indeed there, but so are the problems. The field of such turbines in air, is a nightmare, in terms of security monitoring for nations. Hovering wind turbines might also be blown away by strong wind storms and might also get entangled with one another.

Via: Discovermagazine

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