Will Don Quixote Have to Learn to Fly?

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In Cervantes’ classic novel from the early 1600’s, Don Quixote de la Mancha bravely, but rather foolishly, sets out to fight windmills, which he mistakes for being the giants that any decent knight must fight. Although the encounter leaves Don Quixote battered, it now looks as if he will have to learn some new skills to keep up the fight.

According to today’s New York Times, flying wind turbines might be a thing of the future. Although this might seem a bit far fetched, it has certain advantages. For instance, the wind blows constantly and steadily in the altitude of 10.000 feet and some estimates suggest that the flying turbines at that altitude will be able to generate energy at a very competitive price per kilowatt, compared to conventional methods of on-the-ground production. The NY Times reports that the turbines have the potential to prove particularly useful in rural areas and, so far, interest has been registered from a number of developing countries. However, some problems remain. One such is the issue of maintenance – aircrafts require a lot of it and problems of actually operating the turbines will prove tricky as well. Nonetheless, any green method that has the potential to contribute to the lowering of emissions causing global warming deserves attention as well as a fair share of funding. In the meantime, we await response from the birdwatchers.

You can read the NY Times story here and an article on similar projects from the Economist here.



Comments

Justin Borg Barthet said…
Thanks Ole - this is a really fascinating development. The widespread use of airborne wind turbines might be limited by the hazard caused by a cable floating through the air, but this appears to have the potential to be a significant part of a bigger solution. One does wonder what birdwatchers, shadow-haters and aviators will have to say if this sees the light of day.

The dichotomy between developing and developed countries is also quite interesting: in developing countries this is a brilliant solution to power villages that are not connected to the grid, whereas in several developed countries the reverse problem of selling excess production on the grid will likely emerge. This will be an interesting one to watch.
10 December 2007 at 13:44
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