My questions is more technical than the above, but I didn’t have enough room.
Why is it that wind farms (turbines) are built on the ground where the wind speed is lowest compared to being attached to ballons and floated up a thousand feet (or 8 Miles up where the wind speed is the highest) where the wind speed is much higher and more consistant (based on the global Weather patterns (Westerly’s, Tropic Stream)? Is it a technical issue of building ballons that can withstand the wind levels, stay afloat, and hold the weight of the turbines? Or is it an issue of getting the energy generated by the turbines back down to the ground? Or Other?
3 Responses
There are issues such as aircraft, weight, etc. I had this clever idea once to attach a small turbine on the front of a large stunt-like kite and have a machine automatically fly it in a figure 8 pattern, as well as land the kite in calm weather. This would not only get the elevation you talk about but also require a smaller blades since the kite acts as the big blade.
Anyway, I think the continued efficiency gains of the larger turbines shows they are able to get pretty high just by increasing scale. But your idea is clever and shows promise. Keep looking for an improvement in materials or technology that might push it along.
Because it’s either impractical or too expensive to keep them in the air
I did see a show on discovery channel that had a prototype balloon type wind balloon. It would be teathered to the ground and send electricity back down as the balloon spins.
Here is a diagram of what it did
http://dvice.com/pics/09_1_turbine.500.515.jpg
This is the real thing
http://hillpointenergy.com/windblog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/magenn.jpg
They proved it could be done but it was inneficient, it would take more maintinence than the turbine because the gasses inside the balloon, over time would escape and it would begin to fail.
At the moment wind farms are easier to maintain and produce. They do work, so theres no reason to change at the moment. The main problem is airspace, more planes in the air, it would be a big challenge to stay safe if your flying in these areas.