Energy from High-Altitude Kites 288
maddmike writes "High altitude kites could produce energy equal to some power stations at a comparable cost without polluting. The technique uses a thing dubbed a 'Laddermill' - a chain of kites attached together to create a loop in the sky more than 5 miles long."
The altitude isn't... (Score:3, Funny)
Are your crazy!? (Score:5, Funny)
what a name (Score:1, Funny)
Hey Ben... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Are your crazy!? (Score:5, Funny)
Well, at least we'd be moving back in time so we'd be able to fix it.
Re:Air Hazzard. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Ben Franklin (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Five miles high (Score:5, Funny)
that's called free extra power
Air Hazzard... (Score:1, Funny)
How do you fly the white house?
I think that the Europeans... (Score:5, Funny)
(ducking)
Re:More trouble than its worth (Score:3, Funny)
And if they install some along the US/Mexico border as the article suggests then there's also drug-smuggling aircraft.
This just in... The city of Dallas was plunged into darkness when a kite was struck by a cocaine-laden aircraft.
uhuh, yeah, great idea, but.. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Very short on details (Score:3, Funny)
I can just see the engineers standing slackjawed as they watch their kites go awol. Gee Herb, I thought it was your job to tie the string.
Let's go fly a kite... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Worlds Larget Lighting Rod (Score:3, Funny)
Heck, I figure you could get about 1.21 gigawatts easily.
Re:Hey Ben... (Score:3, Funny)
Probably something that never made into his diary:
"*Zzzzzzttttt* Shityaaaaaooo! Fuck this energy experiment. Let some losers hundreds of years in the future try this crap instead. I'm done with kites."
Re:Global Stasis? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:nothing new (Score:5, Funny)
The industrial world has a vested interest in maintaining itself and not destroying itself or us: If there is no civilization or people to buy goods and services, then money and soon power (as in power of the people, not nuclear power) go bye-bye.
It's simplistic and misses all those pesky nuances, but true.
Now, whether or not the industrial world _knows_ how to maintain itself and not destroy us... THAT's another question...
How about outsourcing our power? (Score:5, Funny)
A person can generate about 1/4 horsepower with an excersize bike. Given the daily rate for unskilled labor in many countries now, we could simply rig up a giant wheel like what Conan the Barbarian pushed around as a slave in that clearly prophetic movie.
Given the cost of building a nuke plant, then running it, getting rid of the waste, (hiding it really well for a really long time), and cleaning up after it -- it would be cheaper per kilowatt to simply have a bunch of low paid people push giant logs around in a circle.
The economics are outstanding. Its great excersize, and the power companies would be incented to provide health care at the same time. It provides plenty of jobs for unskilled labor, and could quickly be set up in the lowest income countries.
All in all, its a win-win. Best of all, it doesn't suffer from the one drawback everyone is clearly afraid to speak about with wind-power, which is the potential for slowing down the rotation of the earth! Clearly a danger if ever there was one. Why, if we slowed down the earth, and there was no centrifugal force apposing the gravity of our planet we would all be crushed! Oh the horror.
Re:Hey Ben... (Score:1, Funny)