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U.S. Discovery Channel reported that imagine a city floating in the clouds, using a series of inflatable wind turbines to generate electricity using wind energy to meet electricity demand. This kind of aerial city is still a kind of scientific fantasy, but aerial wind farms are becoming a reality. At present, some U.S. technology companies are developing a series of new designs that use wind power in the clouds. Compared to wind power installations installed on the ground, this kind of aerial wind farm is more efficient.
Adam Lane, co-founder of Altairos, a Boston startup company in the United States, said: “At 2000 feet (about 609 meters), the wind power is eight times that of a 300-foot wind tower. The wind you can use increases rapidly with wind speed. With the increase, the wind speed has doubled, and the amount of wind that can be used has increased to eight times. This is surprising."
Altaeros designed the turbine blades made of lightweight composite aluminum material, surrounded by an annular laminated material shielding structure, to "focus" the wind while keeping the turbines afloat. Ryan said: "This design is not much different from sailing or parachute." This device is similar to a built-in helium jet engine. Altaeros plans to release a prototype equivalent to one-third of full-size space within a few months at the abandoned air base near the Maine-Canada border.
The 100-kilowatt blimp or aircraft generates electricity to meet the electricity needs of about 40 households, but Lane said that they are not selling urban households. Ryan wants to promote such air turbines to remote military bases, training camps or small villages that do not have access to electricity. Now, these places rely on expensive diesel generators to meet their electricity demand. Air turbines can be loaded into containers and transported to the disaster area. This is an ideal choice for humanitarian assistance and the urgent need to solve the stricken areas that are in desperate need of electricity supply. Ryan said: "We think there is a lot of demand for this design using renewable energy. It is obviously not feasible to build a 300-foot tall, 70-ton wind tower in northern Canada, Alaska or Africa."
Altaeros' floating wind turbines recently won the ConocoPhillips Energy Award. In addition, other designs have won this award. Makani Power of Alameda, Calif., designed a kite-like electrical wing. Santa Cruz’s Joby Energy is building an array of rectangular arrays of air turbines that are expected to generate 2 megawatts of electricity. In addition, some European companies are also developing flying turbines that use winding machinery to generate electricity.
All of these floating wind turbine designs will be deployed on the migratory routes of birds and bats, with less impact on the environment than on the ground turbines, and this is what environmental groups are pursuing. In addition, they must also meet the relevant regulations of the federal government and must not hinder normal civil aviation and military aircraft flights.
Experts said that although this area faces a series of obstacles and challenges, it is an opportunity for investors. They can invest in R&D to generate electricity that is more competitive with existing energy sources and profit from it. "For the development of this technology, we are still in the early stages," said Ford Felke, head of the Wind Energy Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado.
Over the years, the Coast Guard has used helium blimps to help radar track drug traffickers. Combining the turbine with the blimp is a brand-new attempt. He said: "We have never developed such a machine before, so we have no operational experience. I believe it will work in a surprising way. But this kind of machine is not what you want to do, it must be cost Control within an acceptable range." (Text / Sina Technology)
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