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Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation

spectrum.ieee.org

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Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation

#171

Post by psd1 »

sjducb wrote: post #162
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is wrong in physics terms. Lifting things requires power, there is a formula for work done. Keeping things up does not require power, a chair does not collapse under you when it runs out of battery. A ‘normal’ wind turbine generates a huge force on its foundations when it operates - that’s why they have to be so heavy. It’s not moving so no work is done. That force does not care what is opposing it - whether it…

> This is wrong in physics terms. > Lifting things requires power, there is a formula for work done. Keeping things up does not require power When my helicopter is hovering it runs out of fuel. What is my pilot is doing wrong?

Did gravity also run out of fuel?

Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation

#172

Post by psd1 »

samstave wrote: post #120

Have you folks ever heard of a company called CAT? They tend to make things for pushing around dirt. So, TEU containers are TINY. What if - we used an army of CAT-like dirt movers in key areas to FUNNEL wind through a bunch of "wind-tunnel" type things and feed higher power wind in the directions we prefer? Maybe call it "planetary vehicular land transmogrifcation" - or "terra-forming" for short?

That would be both interesting and cool, but I suspect you'll find it extremely uneconomical use of land, and wind is less energetic at ground level. Maybe if this "CAT" company builds machines that can operate at a few hundred metres of altitude...

Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation

#173

Post by psd1 »

pierrekin wrote: post #29
IshKebab wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on the numbers from the article: 40 kW * 80 s / 500 m is 650 kgf. So maybe it will work. Still I feel like as soon as you get a moment of calm it will all break. The wind may be very reliable in places but is it ever so reliable that you don't get moments of calm for hours at a time?

When there is a break in the wind, you reel the kite in, creating apparent wind.

You can, but in that phase, you're expending energy without generating any.

Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation

#174

Post by psd1 »

antisthenes wrote: post #139
brazzy wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You completely misunderstood. The kite is not for "delivery", it actually generates the power.

Yes, you're right. I'll have to re-read the article to see how much this kite can actually generate.

40KW.

Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation

#175

Post by sjducb »

psd1 wrote: post #171
sjducb wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is wrong in physics terms. > Lifting things requires power, there is a formula for work done. Keeping things up does not require power When my helicopter is hovering it runs out of fuel. What is my pilot is doing wrong?

Did gravity also run out of fuel?

Nah, but loads of things about gravity don’t make sense. Especially in a Newtonian Universe.
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