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The Flying Wind Turbine
By Kenny Rozario
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) startup company, Altaeros Energies, has developed a Buoyant Airborne Turbine, also known as the BAT. This device is filled with helium and rises upwards to an altitude of 1000 to 2000 feet, or 304.8 to 609.6 metres, where it will be able to utilize the strengthened winds to generate more power than the conventional wind turbine. It is proposed that these airborne turbines will be capable of generating twice the amount of energy than their land-based counterparts! The generated power is then transferred through the cables, which tether it to the ground.
In addition, due to its weightlessness, the device will also be easier to transport to multiple locations. It should also be mentioned that in the future, the turbine will have the capabilities to provide weather related data along with the functionality of being a WiFi hotspot.
The main reason behind the creation of the BAT is for aiding in the reduction of fossil fuel usage. With the capacities it supposedly has, it will not solely provide energy but it will also be capable of providing much more. Since the service itself isn’t very expensive, it would also hinder energy companies’ large profits from the rural areas, and this would improve many individuals’ standards of living as they would have money to invest elsewhere.
Here is a short video from the MIT startup showing their project and explaining their view points:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kldA4nWANA8
The BAT will be used foremost in locations that are far too remote to develop a conventional electrical network. Similarly, it will be able to provide electricity to those locations suffering from disasters and also allow cellular communication to occur within these areas. Altaeros Energies has currently received a $1.3 million grant to test the device in rural locations of Alaska. In these areas of the state, electricity is expensive and the BAT may prove to be aviable solution to that issue!
Despite the device seeming to be close to completion, it is still unknown when the device will be capable of delivering all of its features and when it can be mass produced.