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WIND TURBINES TAKE TO THE SKIES TO GENERATE A MAGNIFICENT QUANTA OF ENERGY 

In the race to find alternative solutions to gasoline and oil and create an abundance of energy before we destroy our planet, there is one new invention which is starting to gain some steam in the mainstream world. High Altitude Wind Generators that operate upwards of 1000 feet in the air, and progressively higher as the technology advances. 

Conventional wind power has run into many obstacles, such as air flow uncertainty, land requirements, and the not-in-my-backyard objections. High altitude wind has enormous long-term potential, but the engineering and regulatory challenges are complex. Scientists and Engineers have to figure out how to safely suspend airborne turbines thousands of feet off the ground; keep them aloft for long periods of time in high winds; and how to avoid interference with aviation.

And yet, despite all of the challenges, high-altitude wind power could end up being easier and less expensive to deploy than traditional wind energy. This is accomplished because there would be no need for giant steel and concrete towers, or the yaw mechanism that keeps standard turbines facing into the wind as the wind direction changes. Let me introduce you to one such group of people working on a new type of turbine… With a working prototype to boot! 

Altaeros Energies was founded in 2010 at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology with a mission to develop and deploy the world’s first commercial airborne wind turbine, something that anyone could use, or something that could be employed over a city (in mass) to power the energy for the communities down below. In late March 2014, the company announced it is ready to break the world record for the highest wind turbine – A record which is currently held by the Vestas V164-8.0-MW, a conventional ground turbine built in Denmark with a 460-foot base and blade tips that reach over 720 feet high. That’s a biiiiig ground turbine, but that’s the whole point – it’s tethered to the ground.

Altaeros Energies’ Buoyant Airborne Turbine or BAT is a helium-filled blimp-like cylinder with the fan blades inside the tube. It is designed to be tethered at high altitudes where winds are stronger, sending the electricity to the ground via wire. For those concerned a bout a blimp being batted about my high winds, the BAT is actually a form of aerostat, the industrial airships used for lifting heavy equipment which are built to survive hurricane-force winds, and even make use of such power.

The design of the Altaeros’ Airborne Wind Turbine is pretty simple. An inflatable, helium-filled shell lifts it off the ground to high altitudes, where winds are much stronger than at ground level. The airborne turbines are held steady by strong tethers, which send electricity generated by the turbine back down to the ground. The prototype produced more than twice as much power at high altitude than generated at conventional tower height. A wind turbine that floats in the upper atmosphere produces very little noise and should maintenance be required, it could be brought to earth for the repairs.

In 2013, Altaeros successfully tested a BAT prototype in Maine, reaching a height of 500 feet in 45 mph winds. This next record-setting attempt will take place in Alaska near Fairbanks where airborne turbines could someday bring clean power to remote areas. The BAT is expected to reach 1000 feet, breaking the Vestas record by 280 feet.

Record Breaking or not, this technology if put to proper use can generate enough power for many small towns. They are quite literally the ultimate kites!! Even though this system is still in the prototype phase, when these systems are placed into use the cost of high-altitude wind energy will have greater and greater benefits, with lower and lower risks!