New advances in wind turbine technology could allow scientists to harvest wind power more effectively with lower costs, while going somewhere few turbines have before – high up in the air.
Flying wind turbines could rise higher than traditional turbines, accessing higher speeds to convert more energy faster, while also preventing the expensive construction and structural costs associated with modern turbines, according to Responding to Climate Change.
There’s no single set design for these airborne turbines, but some dip and dive through the air like kites or gliders while connected to the ground by long cables, rising about five times the average turbine’s height to operate at 600 meters, or nearly 2,000 feet, high.
“The faster this device goes through the wind, the power will increase with the cube of that speed, so there really is a real benefit to going faster,” Toshiba Research Europe Limited engineer Oliver Woodford said.
More than four times the power
Wind turbines remaining close to the ground can only gain energy at a rate of 400 terrawatts, the news source explained, but high altitude winds can raise the rate of power collection more than four times that, the low estimate being 1800 terrawatts.
Different developers are working to create a model of flying turbine with peak efficiency. While the glider-based models pass energy into ground level generators, some systems are based around drag where smaller turbines are installed on a larger wing, while others are based around being attached to the sea bed.
Researchers have acknowledged issues that need to be taken care of before the turbines reach market, such as durability, control, safety and airspace concerns. While further development will be necessary before production can truly begin, there are hopes the new technology can increase wind power’s effects.
Larger, more powerful turbines on the ground
Scientists in the United Kingdom have said that a new form of wind turbine, more than twice the size of modern ones, could single-handedly provide electricity for as many as 20,000 homes yearly.
The proposed “super turbine,” about 410 feet long supported by a tower that could make its total height rise more than 1,000 feet, would be taller than most modern buildings, according to The Daily Telegraph. The most efficient locations for them to be build would be at sea or in the United States’ Great Plains.
Continued wind turbine design and testing will only serve to strengthen the technology’s growing prowess in the energy industry, helping it become more cost-effective and increase lifespans.