>From Jed: > Latest info. See: > > http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/highaltitudewindpower/
High Altitude wind power generation is indeed an intriguing concept. According to this article: > Startups like KiteGen, Sky Windpower, Magenn, and Makani > (Google’s secretive fundee) have come into the space over > the last several years, and they seem to be working on > much shorter timelines. > > “We are not that far from working prototypes,” Archer said, > though she noted that the companies are all incredibly > secretive about the data from their testing. Without question this is a topic worthy of vortex-l discussion! I seem to recall Ed Storms once commenting on this topic. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I gathered Ed thought the logistics of constructing high altitude wind farms was simply be too impractical. I don't know what to think about this matter other than it intrigues the hell out of me. Being able to tap into the huge reservoir of high altitude wind that can easily exceed speeds of 100 mph is certainly something to consider. I also gather high altitude wind speeds tend to be more consistent day in and day out. On the down side, one can only imagine the horror of watching an ugly cold front suddenly move across the surface of a high altitude wind farm, a front loaded with shattering bolts of deadly lightning. Ok, Ben... go on out there with your key and see if you can get a spark off one of those cables. I would hope that these aspects of Nature have been taken into consideration in the design of POCs. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
