Would not these flying kites cast a shadow up on the Earth
depriving us of the suns energy?- Ges-
Yes, some light would be reflected back into space, but the effect would be negligible. These machines have very small surfaces overall. See the picture here:
http://www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm
Other human activity has a much larger effect on sunlight and heat absorption.
If we were to set up enough solar ground-based collectors to produce all the energy in the world, they would have a far greater surface area, because wind is much more concentrated than sunlight. The total energy in wind is the same as the total energy of sunlight, because all energy converts to heat, and wind is heat -- it is moving molecules of air. But wind is concentrated in some areas and largely absent in others.
- Jed
