magenn.com — MARS is a lighter-than-air tethered wind turbine that rotates about a horizontal axis in response to wind, generating electrical energy. This electrical energy is transferred down the 1000-foot tether for immediate use, or to a set of batteries for later use, or to the power grid.
Apr 3, 2007 View in Crawl 4
technopunditApr 4, 2007
We're right on the verge of the capability to produce cost effective roofing materials which can produce enough solar power to get us off foreign oil for good. Might be a more practical approach.
fsucheefApr 4, 2007
Currently the Helium stockpiles in the world are getting low. Where will be get all the Helium needed to float these.
technopunditApr 4, 2007
Grounded or not, lightning is going to love these things, which are then likely to burst and come crashing to the ground. And I know of no current technology which can "harness" lightning bolts. That's a massive amount of energy released over a miniscule amount of time.We really need more science classes in schools.
technopunditApr 4, 2007
A helium party balloon (which is the only kind most diggers will ever see) is capable of lifting about one ounce. Add the weight of an air frame a turbine generator, and 1000 feet of cable, and you're talking some serious volume. That sort of increased demand on our already short supply of helium would make these things cost-prohibitive. Plus, there is the cost of recharging the gas when it leaks out.I love the angelic white picture in the article. These things would have to be illuminated, orange, and ugly.as sin.And yes, the new generation of solar materials (and even the old stuff) is effective in producing power even in the frozen north, once you get the snow off the roof. The effect of solar on oil demand and prices, once widely deployed, can even make dirty old fossil fuel more affordable to the technically irate and the snowbound.Of course, we're too busy spending untold billions fighting in support of the oill companies for control of middle east oil to to have developed solar to the point of practicality by now, but it will occur eventually. The companies developing cutting-edge solar are going out of their way to avoid filthy republican blood money. That way, big oil (hopefully) won't kill the technology.Gas balloons to solve the energy crisis. Now I've heard it all.Based on the truthiness factor, Watch THIS comment get dugg down...
technopunditApr 4, 2007
Yes, but most of the helium is floating around someplace and can't be captured. The helium you by at the party store comes from underground reserves, most of which are in Texas, and are not particularly abundant.Texas? Did I say Texas? Oh, that explains the reason somebody is trying to promote this quack technology.
vertinoxApr 4, 2007
@"ieathamburgers"Umm... Barrage balloons were designed to be run into by low flying enemy dive bombers that they caught in the interconnecting cables between balloons. Hence the fact they would often be torn down from the sky because they were doing their job.
stayputnikApr 4, 2007
this thing has been around a while. i have a feeling it's vaporware and will never become available. pretty snazzy idea though, if it actually works as advertised. maybe i'll make a small-scale one and try it out this summer (with a little help from our glorious chicago breeze)...
xutopiaApr 5, 2007
@khyberkitsune "Bulls**t. the north pole gets a 6-month period of daylight, as in the SUN NEVER SETS, every year. That energy combined with cold weather = massive winds. Learn a bit about weather."So what do you want to do charge the batteries for 6 months and then just run off of them for the other 6? That would require a lot of batteries.My point is that we can certainly use various methods of generating energy and we should use the right approach in different circumstances. Have lots of wind but little sun? Go with wind turbines. Have lots of sun but little wind? Go solar. Have a bit of both? Mix the two.
megaloidApr 5, 2007
You think Texas is bad. Count the bullet holes in the road signs next time you visit rural Wyoming. Or Waziristan, for that matter.
bamboojonesFeb 12, 2010
A few years ago my aged parents found themselves with out electricity for a week after a large ice storm. They had no where to go because all the hotels in surrounding towns were full of people like them who were also without power. They nearly froze to death. If something like this were available to them and their town it would have been literally life saving.