Comments on: High-Altitude Winds Hold Sky-High Promise for Meeting Electricity Needs http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/ Clean Tech News & Views: Solar Energy News. Wind Energy News. EV News. & More. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Closer to the Sun: Satellite Solar is Out of This World : CleanTechnica http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-6656 Closer to the Sun: Satellite Solar is Out of This World : CleanTechnica Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:04:50 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-6656 [...] This is a notch up from high-altitude wind turbines. [...] [...] This is a notch up from high-altitude wind turbines. [...]

]]> By: SamH http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-6655 SamH Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:25:13 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-6655 The tether/power cable is a technical problem that gets less problematic as you increase the scale. You could even use a hollow tube as a microwave energy guide for near-wireless power transfer. The big thing I see as a drawback would be the impact on air travel. The area around the cables would have to be no-fly zones. The tether/power cable is a technical problem that gets less problematic as you increase the scale.

You could even use a hollow tube as a microwave energy guide for near-wireless power transfer.

The big thing I see as a drawback would be the impact on air travel. The area around the cables would have to be no-fly zones.

]]> By: SamH http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-23092 SamH Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:25:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-23092 The tether/power cable is a technical problem that gets less problematic as you increase the scale. You could even use a hollow tube as a microwave energy guide for near-wireless power transfer. The big thing I see as a drawback would be the impact on air travel. The area around the cables would have to be no-fly zones. The tether/power cable is a technical problem that gets less problematic as you increase the scale.

You could even use a hollow tube as a microwave energy guide for near-wireless power transfer.

The big thing I see as a drawback would be the impact on air travel. The area around the cables would have to be no-fly zones.

]]> By: SamH http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-23093 SamH Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:25:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-23093 The tether/power cable is a technical problem that gets less problematic as you increase the scale. You could even use a hollow tube as a microwave energy guide for near-wireless power transfer. The big thing I see as a drawback would be the impact on air travel. The area around the cables would have to be no-fly zones. The tether/power cable is a technical problem that gets less problematic as you increase the scale.

You could even use a hollow tube as a microwave energy guide for near-wireless power transfer.

The big thing I see as a drawback would be the impact on air travel. The area around the cables would have to be no-fly zones.

]]> By: Jeff Kart http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-6654 Jeff Kart Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:44:35 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-6654 @Mr. Sinister Wireless energy. Good one. Thanks for the comments all. I figured the 'tether from the sky' line would generate some discussion. @Mr. Sinister

Wireless energy. Good one. Thanks for the comments all. I figured the ‘tether from the sky’ line would generate some discussion.

]]> By: Jeff Kart http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-23091 Jeff Kart Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:44:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-23091 @Mr. Sinister Wireless energy. Good one. Thanks for the comments all. I figured the 'tether from the sky' line would generate some discussion. @Mr. Sinister

Wireless energy. Good one. Thanks for the comments all. I figured the ‘tether from the sky’ line would generate some discussion.

]]> By: Mr. Sinister http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-6653 Mr. Sinister Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:22:34 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-6653 Well, 30,000 feet is most certainly too high for a conventional power transmission cable. It would snap under it's own weight. And surely no one is going to contruct a 30,000 foot tower on which to place conventional wind turbines. I don't think our current state of materials engineering is up to a challenge of that magnitude. Perhaps a modern, unmanned version of the lighter-than-air ship or a solar-powered glider? New technologies are starting to emerge that might make it possible to harness and deliver the energy collected by such a device back to the ground. Methanogenesis using direct current, for example, could allow electricity to be converted to methane and returned to the ground in storage tanks. Or perhaps one of the new emerging technologies for wireless power transmission using microwaves. The key, of course, as with any energy harvesting technology, is whether you can get more out of it than you put into it. Only time will tell, I suppose, but it would be an exciting engineering challenge. Well, 30,000 feet is most certainly too high for a conventional power transmission cable. It would snap under it’s own weight. And surely no one is going to contruct a 30,000 foot tower on which to place conventional wind turbines. I don’t think our current state of materials engineering is up to a challenge of that magnitude.

Perhaps a modern, unmanned version of the lighter-than-air ship or a solar-powered glider? New technologies are starting to emerge that might make it possible to harness and deliver the energy collected by such a device back to the ground. Methanogenesis using direct current, for example, could allow electricity to be converted to methane and returned to the ground in storage tanks. Or perhaps one of the new emerging technologies for wireless power transmission using microwaves.

The key, of course, as with any energy harvesting technology, is whether you can get more out of it than you put into it. Only time will tell, I suppose, but it would be an exciting engineering challenge.

]]> By: Mr. Sinister http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-23088 Mr. Sinister Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:22:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-23088 Well, 30,000 feet is most certainly too high for a conventional power transmission cable. It would snap under it's own weight. And surely no one is going to contruct a 30,000 foot tower on which to place conventional wind turbines. I don't think our current state of materials engineering is up to a challenge of that magnitude. Perhaps a modern, unmanned version of the lighter-than-air ship or a solar-powered glider? New technologies are starting to emerge that might make it possible to harness and deliver the energy collected by such a device back to the ground. Methanogenesis using direct current, for example, could allow electricity to be converted to methane and returned to the ground in storage tanks. Or perhaps one of the new emerging technologies for wireless power transmission using microwaves. The key, of course, as with any energy harvesting technology, is whether you can get more out of it than you put into it. Only time will tell, I suppose, but it would be an exciting engineering challenge. Well, 30,000 feet is most certainly too high for a conventional power transmission cable. It would snap under it’s own weight. And surely no one is going to contruct a 30,000 foot tower on which to place conventional wind turbines. I don’t think our current state of materials engineering is up to a challenge of that magnitude.

Perhaps a modern, unmanned version of the lighter-than-air ship or a solar-powered glider? New technologies are starting to emerge that might make it possible to harness and deliver the energy collected by such a device back to the ground. Methanogenesis using direct current, for example, could allow electricity to be converted to methane and returned to the ground in storage tanks. Or perhaps one of the new emerging technologies for wireless power transmission using microwaves.

The key, of course, as with any energy harvesting technology, is whether you can get more out of it than you put into it. Only time will tell, I suppose, but it would be an exciting engineering challenge.

]]> By: Mr. Sinister http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-23089 Mr. Sinister Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:22:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-23089 Well, 30,000 feet is most certainly too high for a conventional power transmission cable. It would snap under it's own weight. And surely no one is going to contruct a 30,000 foot tower on which to place conventional wind turbines. I don't think our current state of materials engineering is up to a challenge of that magnitude. Perhaps a modern, unmanned version of the lighter-than-air ship or a solar-powered glider? New technologies are starting to emerge that might make it possible to harness and deliver the energy collected by such a device back to the ground. Methanogenesis using direct current, for example, could allow electricity to be converted to methane and returned to the ground in storage tanks. Or perhaps one of the new emerging technologies for wireless power transmission using microwaves. The key, of course, as with any energy harvesting technology, is whether you can get more out of it than you put into it. Only time will tell, I suppose, but it would be an exciting engineering challenge. Well, 30,000 feet is most certainly too high for a conventional power transmission cable. It would snap under it’s own weight. And surely no one is going to contruct a 30,000 foot tower on which to place conventional wind turbines. I don’t think our current state of materials engineering is up to a challenge of that magnitude.

Perhaps a modern, unmanned version of the lighter-than-air ship or a solar-powered glider? New technologies are starting to emerge that might make it possible to harness and deliver the energy collected by such a device back to the ground. Methanogenesis using direct current, for example, could allow electricity to be converted to methane and returned to the ground in storage tanks. Or perhaps one of the new emerging technologies for wireless power transmission using microwaves.

The key, of course, as with any energy harvesting technology, is whether you can get more out of it than you put into it. Only time will tell, I suppose, but it would be an exciting engineering challenge.

]]> By: Mr. Sinister http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/16/high-altitude-winds-hold-sky-high-promise-for-meeting-electricity-needs/#comment-23090 Mr. Sinister Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:22:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=2653#comment-23090 Well, 30,000 feet is most certainly too high for a conventional power transmission cable. It would snap under it's own weight. And surely no one is going to contruct a 30,000 foot tower on which to place conventional wind turbines. I don't think our current state of materials engineering is up to a challenge of that magnitude. Perhaps a modern, unmanned version of the lighter-than-air ship or a solar-powered glider? New technologies are starting to emerge that might make it possible to harness and deliver the energy collected by such a device back to the ground. Methanogenesis using direct current, for example, could allow electricity to be converted to methane and returned to the ground in storage tanks. Or perhaps one of the new emerging technologies for wireless power transmission using microwaves. The key, of course, as with any energy harvesting technology, is whether you can get more out of it than you put into it. Only time will tell, I suppose, but it would be an exciting engineering challenge. Well, 30,000 feet is most certainly too high for a conventional power transmission cable. It would snap under it’s own weight. And surely no one is going to contruct a 30,000 foot tower on which to place conventional wind turbines. I don’t think our current state of materials engineering is up to a challenge of that magnitude.

Perhaps a modern, unmanned version of the lighter-than-air ship or a solar-powered glider? New technologies are starting to emerge that might make it possible to harness and deliver the energy collected by such a device back to the ground. Methanogenesis using direct current, for example, could allow electricity to be converted to methane and returned to the ground in storage tanks. Or perhaps one of the new emerging technologies for wireless power transmission using microwaves.

The key, of course, as with any energy harvesting technology, is whether you can get more out of it than you put into it. Only time will tell, I suppose, but it would be an exciting engineering challenge.

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