Helium filled wind turbines to be tested

[Yo_Mama]

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/09/26/business/airborne-wind-turbines-to-be-tested-in-limestone/?ref=latest

This is the company's website:
http://www.altaerosenergies.com/

An earlier article with pics:
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/04/17/a_generator_thats_lighter_than_air__and_relatively_light_on_the_wallet/?page=full


It's nice to see this entire the testing stage.

[madokie]

1. Gotta keep trying

The first steps are always the hardest to take. The important thing is to keep pushing the envelope and in doing so we'll get to where we need to be.

[Yo_Mama]

2. It's a great idea

And it makes me think of the Macy Parade, to be honest. Every time I look at a picture of one of these things I get a Goofy grin on my face.

I'm glad they are going into testing - I'd been kind of following this for a while now, and it's nice to see it moving forward.

[jberryhill]

3. And when we run out of wind, then what?

[wtmusic]

5. Burn more coal.

Happens all the time.

[NickB79]

4. How much helium would be needed per GW of delivered power?

Last I read, helium supplies are starting to be depleted globally: http://www.google.com/search?q=helium+shortage&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[caraher]

6. I wonder this too

We won't run out of wind, but we can run out of helium. I know people who do research with high-altitude balloons and it seems clear they're going to need to switch to hydrogen before long. You do get more buoyancy but in exchange you're also stuck working with something that can explode...