Electricity from the Air
California company Makani Power is developing a flying wind turbine designed to generate cheap renewable power.
Hovercraft: The Makani Airborne Wind Turbine sits on a runway at the decommissioned Alameda Naval Air Station outside Oakland, California. The prototype carbon-fiber craft weighs 120 pounds and has a 26-foot wingspan. Under battery power, rotors on the wing allow the vehicle to hover. During flight, they act as small electricity-producing wind turbines. Development of the flying turbine has been funded with a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
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