Energy from kites!

A popular childrens toy could well could provide the next breakthrough in renewable energy! After successful testing in one of Europe’s top research centres with scientists from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, 10 kilowatts of power was produced by flying a giant kite tethered to a generator. 10 kilowatts of power is enough electricity to run 10 family homes, and all from a 10-sq metre kite. The researchers are planning to test a 50kW version in the near future, called Laddermill, eventually they hope to produce a version with multiple kites that could generate as much as 100 megawatts (this could power 100,000 homes!)

The scientists from Delft University are not alone. Google.org (a philanthropic arm of the Google web-search company) invested 10 million dollars last year in another kite company based in the US called Makani. There is also an Italian company called Kitegen which has proposed a theoretical design for a kite system generating a gigawatt of electricity using 12 sets of four 500 sq metre kites.

The aim of all these teams is to tap into the vast energy resources of high-altitude wind (a kilometre or more above the ground), where winds carry hundreds of times more energy than at ground level and are also more consistent. According to Ken Caldeira (a senior climate scientist at Stanford University), the total energy contained in high altitude wind is 100 times greater than the amount of energy currently required by the whole planet.

Commercial wind turbines simply cannot be built high enough to take advantage of these winds at high altitudes but kites can easily reach a kilometre or more of altitude. In Europe there are many sites suitable, thanks to the high-speed jet stream, for large scale power generation using kites.

The kites generate power by pulling on a wire attached to a generator on the ground, the rapid speed of the rising kite generates copious amounts of power then once the kite has reached maximum altitude it is simply reeled in to repeat the process.

Unlike many other proposed alternative technologies, high altitude wind power is available right now, it is estimated that with sufficient capital investment, commercially viable systems producing electricity at around 10c per kilowatt hour could be established in less than 5 years.

Residential wind power systems

With growing concerns over the supply and price of fossil fuels, in addition to environmental issues. Many homeowners are investigating alternative options for heating and power. Residential wind power systems are just one of these alternative technologies and perhaps the cheapest in terms of price per Kwh (kilowatt hour).

Power produced from winds using turbines is efficient, clean and renewable. However, more importantly, as more and more consumers investing in wind power home systems, the prices are coming done making the return on investment even more attractive.

The technology and therefore efficiency of these wind turbine systems is constantly improving, using data from many large scale wind farm facilities worldwide such as the Altamont Pass, Buffalo Gap and Capricorn Ridge Wind Farms in the USA. Muppandal Wind Farm in India and the Barrow Offshore Wind farm in the UK. Modern wind turbine designs have benefitted greatly from these projects resulting in cost effective and efficient small scale wind turbines now available for local energy production in the domestic markets.

This advancement of technology means that it is now possible to install wind power in your home for less than a $1000 in the form of DIY kits. If you are prepared to source all the parts and materials yourself, further savings can be made resulting in a wind powered home for less than $500! Basic mechanical skills will be required if you go the DIY route but it’s probably a lot easier than you think. Common household tools and a good manual are the only other requirements for a DIY wind power project.

When it comes to choosing a manual or guide for building your wind power turbine it is essential to choose one where the author has in fact constructed a successful wind power system. You would be amazed at the number of people that are jumping on the alternative energy bandwagon just to make a quick buck!

The manual that we feel is the easiest to follow also provides clear illustrations and all the support required for even the most inexperienced DIY’er. This manual was created with the complete novice in mind and guides you through the complete build and installation process. As a bonus the author also includes a complete guide on making your own solar panels and includes examples of wind generators he has built and installed for less than $100!

Want to save hundreds of dollars every time you get your power bill or even become totally self sufficient for energy? Check out this great wind and solar construction manual here.

Wind Turbine Alternative Energy

Alternative Energy - Vegetable Based Biofuels

There are two main types of biofuels which are already available to some extent, ethanol and vegetable oils.

Oil based biofuels can be produced from a wide variety vegetable oils such as Castor oil, Coconut oil, Corn oil, Cottonseed oil, False flax oil, Mustard oil, Palm oil, Peanut oil, Radish oil, Rapeseed oil, Ramtil oil, Rice bran oil, Safflower oil, Salicornia oil, Soybean oil, Sunflower oil, Algae oil, Copaiba, Honge oil, Jatropha oil and Jojoba oil. Plants containing a high amount of starch/sugar such as sugar cane, sugar beet, and sweet sorghum can be used to produce ethanol (ethyl alcohol) using a fermentation process.

In fact almost any photosynthetic plants can be used for biofuel production, however some plants yield their biofuels more readily and with greater efficiency than others.

Vegetable oil based biodiesel fuels can be safely blended with conventional petroleum derived diesel fuels and used in most vehicles without modification (although older vehicles that use rubber fuel hoses and pump seals need to have these components replaced, car manufacturers have been using synthetics in place of rubber since the late 80’s). The use of vegetable oil as fuel has beeen shown to extend diesel engine life and has been used in Europe for over 20 years now. In fact the original diesel engine produced by Rudolf Diesel in 1892 ran on peanut oil!

Ethanol type fuels can also be used in many vehicles without modification but only up to a point, 10-15% ehtanol/gas mix seems to be safe for most vehicles, however simple adjustments to the fuelling system can increase these figures greatly. It is worth noting that Henry Ford designed the Model T Ford to run on 100% ethanol! In the US several manufacturers produce flex-fuel vehicles can run on 0% to 85% ethanol mix (in fact they could run on 100% ethanol but this is currently prohibited).

However there is growing controversy surrounding these existing biofuels. In the case of ethanol, it is reported that although the use of ethanol in vehicles reduces CO2, carcinogenic benzene and butadiene emissions, but the levels of formaldehyde and associated compounds such as such as formalin and acetaldehyde are greatly increased generating more ground level ozone (which has led to legislation effectively banning ethanol as a fuel in some states). Then there is the huge food versus fuel debate, diverting crops for biofuel use to the detriment of the food supply is thought to have caused a steep rise in global food prices and increased food scarcity.

It is likely that the future of the biofuel industry lies with non food crops and second generation biofuels (using the residual non-food parts of current crops, such as stems, leaves and husks that are left behind or from other organic waste). The current front runner in the biofuels race has to be algae fuel, described by some as third generation biofuel. Algae straijns such as Botryococcus braunii and Chlorella vulgaris, can be cultivated in vast quantities on non arable land with no fertilsers and very low input energy requirements. Producing over 30 times more energy per acre than conventional food crops algae could well be the future of biofuel, in fact we are already seeing new terminology appearing in technical journals such as algaculture and oilgae!

Nuclear Fusion Alternative Energy