The Jet Streams are like the Holy Grail for wind turbine companies. Tap them successfully and you have a potentially huge market for supplying cheap energy. Scientists are aiming high as we read in our recent post on - Scientists Aim for the Skies with Wind Technology. The questions are simple to ask but difficult to answer – how and when?
The simple fact that the jet streams are 100 times the amount of power used worldwide annually makes for a salivating prospect for wind energy developers. They are also sure that one day, this perennially renewable energy will be tapped for commercial and ecological gain. Yes, the industry as a whole is not even at a prototype stage as research continues around the complexities of grabbing energy from the far skies.
The challenges – No company so far has shown that it can fly an unattended flying turbine for considerable length of time and at those heights. Then there are complex airspace regulations that have to be worked around. Fears of falling turbines and cables tethered to the ground have to be allayed. Then there are the environmental concerns of bird paths and their effect on bird flight.
But the biggest hurdle is of technology. Autonomous operation itself will bring a lot of decisions that must be made. Each company is looking to cross over the hurdle in its own way and with an interesting mix of technologies.
Makani Power of Alameda, California has developed a glider which resembles a kite. Four high-speed rotors take it up and then switch modes to generate electricity that’s carried down a tether. An onboard computer steers the kite in a wide circle, mimicking the path of the tip of a giant wind turbine blade. The kite can also stay up in high winds, and power itself to land in low winds.
Sky WindPower’s turbine has four rotors, each 35 feet (10.6 meters) in diameter that helps it to hover while it remains connected by a tether.
Altaeros is developing a stable turbine that sits inside a 60-foot (18.3-meter) tall, helium-filled balloon that acts like a wind funnel.
The companies have started small, but the dream is to finally catch the Jet streams that are always up there.
