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'Windmill': China tests world’s first megawatt-level airship to capture high winds (interestingengineering.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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"High-altitude winds between 1,640 and 3,281 feet (500 and 10,000 meters) above the ground are stronger and steadier than surface winds. These winds are abundant, widely available, and carbon-free.

"The physics of wind power makes this resource extremely valuable. “When wind speed doubles, the energy it carries increases eightfold, triple the speed, and you have 27 times the energy,” explained Gong Zeqi "

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[–] 1 point 1 year ago (5 children)

That looks complicated and frankly kind of stupid. Imagine trying to get something like that working without having an engineer standing by that can get everything fixed once it crashes down or something else like that happens.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    IDK, the benefit to the goofy kite design is that the aerial portion is far simpler - and there's no massive energized cable hanging in the air. It's a little... non-conventional, but it's a great deal less complicated than floating a massive generator like the chinese solution. Downside is presumably lower energy density per unit, but the reduction in operational footprint might make the two designs competitive. It's good people are exploring both options!

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    The simpler design might lead to lower prices per kWh, which will in the end play a role together with reliability, e.g min/avg power output, durability, outages.
    I find it impressive how creative engineers get. Let's hope for a third option ;)

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Fair, but please name one single way to generate that kind of electrical power that can be fixed by a layperson in case something crashes.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    At least the Chinese version doesn't rely on as many moving parts to keep it aloft. And a complicated mechanical system to produce a flight path. The blimp itself is complicated, but it's not a kite.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    In the end the TCO (per kWh) will play a major role, especially for big installations and for smaller ones the price floor.
    I suppose a helium filled blimp with 12 turbines will be more pricey than a kite with a generator. If the kite fills your need, pick that.

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