Ben Preiss
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The problem with most earthbound wind turbines is that, even in ideal locations, the wind stops blowing occasionally. A thousand feet in the air however, it’s a different story. The wind is strong and constant and that is where the Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS) is designed to be tethered. Think of the MARS as a spinning blimp with scoops to catch the wind and you won’t be far off. Ottawa-based Magenn Power says that a 100ft wide MARS can produce 10 kilowatts of energy anywhere on earth.  “At a thousand feet, there is steady wind anywhere in the world,” says Mac Brown, chief operating officer of Ottawa-based Magenn Power. To take advantage of this constant breeze, Brown has developed a lighter-than-air wind turbine capable of powering a rural village. “Picture a spinning Goodyear blimp,” Brown says. Filled with helium, outfitted with electrical generators and tethered to the ground by a conductive copper cable, the 100-foot-wide Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS) will produce 10 kilowatts of energy anywhere on earth. As the turbine spins around a horizontal axis, the generators convert the mechanical energy of the wind into electrical energy, then send it down for immediate use or battery storage.
Planning for the MARS has been under way for a few years, but this fall Magenn got the $5 million it needed to build prototypes from a California investor. In October, the MARS received its U.S. patent. Already, larger models — ones that might light a skyscraper — are in the works.
(nytimes)References: magenn, nytimes Filed In: |
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