Originally published January 20 2005
Kite-power on the move as potential replacement for expensive, dirty electric plants
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Large, high-flying kites that can turn high altitude winds into electricity might someday replace the world's current, high-pollution power plants. Scientists these days are studying the potential for the "Laddermill" a chain of kites attached to cables that stretch more than five miles into the sky.
High-altitude kites could be used to generate clean energy at a cost comparable with that of polluting power stations, researchers claim.
The Laddermill� is a chain of controllable wing-like kites attached to a looped cable stretching more than five miles into the sky.
Strong high altitude winds acting on the �oekitewings� produce as upward force on one side of the loop and a downward force on the other, causing it to rotate.
The slowly-turning cable drives a power generator in the Laddermill base station.
Although the concept sounds far fetched, its developers at Delft Technical University in the Netherlands hope to build a working model in the next four years.
They claim one Laddermill could generate 100 megawatts of electricity, compared with only a few megawatts from a conventional wind turbine.
Team leader Professor Wubbo Ockels (correct) was inspired by making and flying powerful high-flying kites as a boy.
Professor Ockels, an ex-astronaut and head of the European Space Agency�(TM)s education office, told The Engineer magazine: �oeAbove a certain altitude there is a massive amount of wind power.
At last month�(TM)s European Wind Energy Conference in London, the Laddermill team announced plans to test a variety of kiteplane designs next year using inflatable and lightweight materials.
They maintain that despite its size, the structure would be safe.
Each wing would be automatically controlled by changing shape or using small propellers to alter position.
The Laddermill would only be flown where aircraft are banned.
One such area is the zone along the US-Mexican border, where high-flying balloons fitted with radar are used to combat drug traffickers.
Professor Ockels says a few hundred of the installations, each requiring some 400 kites with 27ft wingspans, could generate enough electricity to supply the needs of a city the size of Seattle.
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