Here in the next few days, I'll finally be putting my "2020 Vision" plan in print -- the one that incorporates all the ideas generated from the diaries on energy, transportation, etc.
But in the meantime, here's a little article on a way of producing energy from wind that's different from the usual towering windmill -- and perhaps better suited to areas without strong surface winds: energy from kites.
High-altitude kites could be used to generate clean energy at a cost comparable with that of polluting power stations, researchers claim.
The "laddermill" design is a set of kites flown in a train. If you've ever tried to set a kite altitude record (something I obsessed over in my youth), you've tried this experiment and seen how trains of kites can generate a lot more lift in tandem than they can on their own.
And it seems they generate a lot more power than a single windmill.
They claim one Laddermill could generate 100 megawatts of electricity, compared with only a few megawatts from a conventional wind turbine.
Now, this system isn't without its own risks. First off, the kite stack soars 30,000 feet into the sky, so that makes it dead space for air travel. Secondly it's, well, 30,000 feet in the sky. Meaning that, should it tumble, the mess of 400 kites will be spread out over 6 miles. I don't have any data on the cable width or craft weight, but I doubt there'd be any real hazard from falling materials. But you'd still want to work this in an area where there was some free space downwind from the base of the stack.
Personally, I can see one of these things being beautiful. Think of 400 kites in all colors of the rainbow, soaring up into the heavens and turning into a faint line high above. Now think of that generating as much power as a mid-sized natural gas plant or small coal plant.
Sign me up.