After a Shaky Start, Airborne Wind Energy Is Slowly Taking Off - Yale e360

Numerous companies are developing technologies, such as large kites, that can harvest wind energy up to a half-mile above ground. While still in its nascent stages, airborne wind power could potentially be used in remote locations or flying from barges far offshore.

An airborne wind turbine at the SkySails Power's pilot site in Klixbüll, Germany. Axel Heimken / picture alliance via Getty Images Look up over the white sand beaches of Mauritius and you may see a gigantic sail, much like the kind used by paragliders or kite surfers but the size of a three-bedroom apartment, looping figure-eights overhead. The sail isn’t a tourist attraction — it’s creating electricity for the power grid of this island nation off the coast of East Africa. Launched in December by German company SkySails Power , the massive wing is the world’s first fully autonomous commercial

related reading

• Fast, scalable, clean, and cheap enoughoffgridai.us
• Energy Superabundance: How Cheap, Abundant Energy Will Shape Our Future - The CGOthecgo.org
• Aging U.S. wind energy infrastructure begins its 'repowering' eracnbc.com
• Grid Storage: Batteries Will Win – Casey Handmer's blogcaseyhandmer.wordpress.com
• World's tallest wooden wind turbine starts turning - BBC Newsbbc.co.uk
• The future of electricity is local – Casey Handmer's blogcaseyhandmer.wordpress.com
• Wind Cannot Power Manufacturingbrief.bismarckanalysis.com
• How AI Labs Are Solving the Power Crisis: The Onsite Gas Deep Divenewsletter.semianalysis.com
• The Pentagon Is Building an Airborne Wireless Energy Gridpopularmechanics.com
• A new tidal turbine generates as much power as 12 solar panelsinterestingengineering.com
• A company can make drinking water from nothing but air and sunlightinterestingengineering.com
• Why the U.S. Electric Grid Isn’t Ready for the Energy Transition - The New York Timesnytimes.com