Floating wind turbines.

[sc281]

I actually think this is a good idea, assuming Congress doesn't get the wild idea to subsidize them. At 1000ft, there is almost always a good amount of wind. US regulators say that it may cause interference with air traffic, so it may not be approved for here though.

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/are-these-giant-flying-turbines-the-energy-answer-81wua5JmRleREGsP7rR2lA.html

[reo]

I've been following the wind turbine stuff a little lately, since I think there could be more done with it to help power our country. To hell with it being green or not, I'm tired of our country being held hostage due to our reliance on oil. This might work out, but factor in cost to build, upkeep, efficiency, etc. The question would be is it better to just use regular wind turbines. I think the biggest hurdle will be keeping it stable to in order to remain efficient. Other than that, the concept is a good one, and would be interesting to see more of.

-Eric

[sc281]

I've been following the wind turbine stuff a little lately, since I think there could be more done with it to help power our country. To hell with it being green or not, I'm tired of our country being held hostage due to our reliance on oil. This might work out, but factor in cost to build, upkeep, efficiency, etc. The question would be is it better to just use regular wind turbines. I think the biggest hurdle will be keeping it stable to in order to remain efficient. Other than that, the concept is a good one, and would be interesting to see more of.

-Eric

The biggest hurdle to wind tubines is consistent wind and proximity to population. Traditional wind turbines can be utilized only in places with regular wind above 8mph I think. The problem is, those places are usually too far from the population centers that could benefit from them.

This would solve both of those problems.


And reliance on oil is not our problem. We have centuries of reserives in oil, oil shale and natural gas, the gov just doesn't allow a lot of it to be gotten to. I just think this tech is worth exploring.

[reo]

Yeah, I gathered that there is a desired rpm needed to produce power, also was told something about the blades are fairly fragile, and having some issues. Getting these built in areas where there is always wind is kinda tough as you mentioned. I've been looking into building my own wind turbine set up, get a working model going to better understand them. I'd really like to see something like this work, might get some more ideas flowing in people's brains.

-Eric

[Sgt Beavis]

I've read a couple of articles on this proposal. IMO is is probably the first time I've seen a wind farm idea that is worth a try. The air traffic around them would have to be restricted, but the great thing is that you won't have environmentalist bitching as much about birds. Also, the altitude could greatly reduce the noise levels heard by anyone living nearby.

The only drawback I see is that we are looking at a real shortage of helium in the next 10 years. Earth is probably going to run out of it in the next 50 years. So they'll have to use hydrogen, which will probably increase maintenance costs as the airships are brought down to be topped off with more gas. Beyond that, I think they should make a go of it with a full scale pilot program..

[BERNIE MOSFET]

If the idea is to deploy these closer to population centers then this could be bad for low flying VFR aircraft when ceilings are right above 1000 ft. Grey inflatables could blend against the clouds and tethers go unseen. They could use brightly colored inflatables, but then you're running into the same problem of people complaining about having to see the damn things, only with a line of sight of 40 miles from the festive floating armada rather than 24 miles or so with the taller turbines. First collision with one of these and the whole thing becomes a massively expensive PR disaster.

Some of the biggest difficulties with wind power is energy transmission over long distances. The floating generators may be more efficient and cheaper to deploy & maintain, even at acceptable distances from population centers, but without inexpensive transmission lines capable of handling the power requirements to ween ourselves from fossil fuels, we're pissing into the wind. T Boone Pickens abandoned his billion dollar wind farm endeavor, in part, due to this.

Seems what everyone likes about power plants is that they're sufficiently small relative to the vast amounts of land required for renewable resources. They convert enormous amounts of energy with a fraction of the apparent footprint and transmission to population centers is over tens of miles, and not hundreds.

[reo]

Yeah, its a shame that something as simple as wind power can be so problematic. I honestly think the best best is offshore oversized turbines or something to that effect. But you still run into the issue of how to get the energy moved long distances. Hopefully someone is working on the power transmission aspect since that seems to be a serious hold up itself.

I've always felt solar power is not the best option, due to the process of building the panels. Although, what I'd like to see is a bunch of mirrors positioned to heat a element surrounded by water, and use steam turbines. But that isn't reliable nor feasible at the moment.

-Eric

[onemeangixxer7502]

I do a lot of work with these wind energy companies indirectly. These things have less than a 25 year shelf life, always breaking and will never account for probably more than 10% of power used. Just another colosal waste of money

[Snatch Napkin]

This seems like a very far fetched idea that has a massive potential for acquiring government funding while never really producing anything.

The vertical axis turbines are efficient, easily maintainable, and can be placed on top of buildings with relative ease.

This idea seems like a long term nightmare.

[onemeangixxer7502]

This seems like a very far fetched idea that has a massive potential for acquiring government funding while never really producing anything.

The vertical axis turbines are efficient, easily maintainable, and can be placed on top of buildings with relative ease.

This idea seems like a long term nightmare.

Just another way to waste money on "green energy". There's a SHIT TON of cash spent even before they're ever built. I've worked with these projects for awhile now on land

[jyro]

sure

I've been following the wind turbine stuff a little lately, since I think there could be more done with it to help power our country. To hell with it being green or not, I'm tired of our country being held hostage due to our reliance on oil. This might work out, but factor in cost to build, upkeep, efficiency, etc. The question would be is it better to just use regular wind turbines. I think the biggest hurdle will be keeping it stable to in order to remain efficient. Other than that, the concept is a good one, and would be interesting to see more of.

-Eric

one storm and billions down the drain and no power for millions.

we have more oil and gas in this country than any other nation, we are being held hostage because out current officials require us to.

[Trip McNeely]

Wind dies and the sun sets. Drill here, Drill now. We have enough Natural gas here in this country currently to sustain its use for 50+ years. With all kinds of innovations in drilling, it will be even more available as more formations are found. It's also very clean burning.

[no4njnk]

As already stated this will have the same problem as wind farms, the energy lost transmitting the energy. We need to focus on better way to transmit the power, not make it.

[jyro]

till we figure out a way to store the energy not used

As already stated this will have the same problem as wind farms, the energy lost transmitting the energy. We need to focus on better way to transmit the power, not make it.

wind and solar will never be viable