Wind Power Handbook » Wind Videos

High Altitude Wind Power

Timlynn Babitsky — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:50:59 +0000

by Timlynn Babitsky
Tapping into the jet stream for unending, reliable wind power is no science fiction fantasy. Researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, the US, and Italy are all flying kites to capture that power. And, Google invested $10m last year in US kite company, Makani Power. The higher you go, the better the wind, but can kites really capture wind power?

Delft University’s Laddermill project is already showing success. With a 10 square meter kite and generator, researchers generated enough electricity to power 10 homes. Their long range plans are to generate enough power for 100,000 homes with multiple kites tapping into the jet stream. Why kites?

Even with the height of modern day wind turbines, it is just not possible to build turbines tall enough to tap wind at very high altitudes. But kites could easily reach these heights and tap into the steady flow of wind above us. For space, or low-level wind constrained countries like the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark, flying kites to tap the high-speed jet stream directly above them is an exciting opportunity for them to participate in the wind power market.

‘Pretty much anywhere in the UK you could run a kite plant economically, but you couldn’t run a wind turbine economically,’ said Allister Furey of the University of Sussex.

Just how quickly will kite technology make it to market? Well, that depends on how much investors are willing to put into the various projects already underway.

Professor Wubbo Ockels, who leads the Laddermill project believes that commercial systems could be operational within five years if the money were available. But without significant funding behind it the technology could languish in the labs at Delft, Stanford, Sussex, Hawaii’s Makani Power, and Italy’s Kitegen for a decade or more to come.

Click here to read more about kites and high altitude wind.

Click here to watch the video as Dutch scientists demonstrate their electric kite

Wind-in-song

Timlynn Babitsky — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:54:09 +0000

by Timlynn Babitsky
Ah, a few more entries in the Wind Songs hunt. Same song title – The Will of the Wind- two different takes; two different artists - both are on YouTube.

The Will of the Wind by Jim Photoglo click here to see and The Will of the Wind live by Kenny Loggins click here to see are both worth a listen. Each is a beautiful piece that you will surely want to add to your positive wind music collection.

Unloved and Disapproved

Timlynn Babitsky — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:44:04 +0000

by Timlynn Babitsky
If you have not yet seen EPURON’s “Power of the Wind” TV spot yet. Sit back and get wowed! A Golden Lion award winner at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes, the “Power of Wind” ad is recognized as one of the most successful TV ads from Germany. Take a minute to watch the video and see one of the most clever wind ads in a long time – it will definitely make you smile.
“Hamburg, 29 June 2007: EPURON GmbH, a subsidiary of Conergy AG, won the top honour for best film advertising. It was created by Nordpol+ Hamburg regarded as one of the most creative agencies worldwide.”

This television ad very cleverly demonstrates the “story of Wind” – unloved, disapproved, and disconnected until one day discovered for the gift it offers. It is definitely a hoot!

The German Federal Minister of Environment, Sigmar Gabriel enthusiastically noted, “When I saw ‘Power of Wind’ for the first time I was drawn by the motive and the humor of it. The Nordpol team did a great job in interpreting the meaning of wind energy into image and sound. It was an excellent ad for the future of renewable energies.”

If you haven’t seen it – take a look.