philba

this is a very interesting product - tetherable, inflatable generator blimp (for lack of a better word). It solves several problems - wind flow obstructions (and the cost of a tower), noise and wildlife concerns.

One very nice aspect of this is that they can be deployed rather quickly so I could see them used in disaster areas or for other temporary needs.

The negatives I see are that cabling for the tether and supply are going to be heavy and costly. Also, there will be local governments that won't want a bunch of balloons in the sky. Liability from crashes might be an issue as well. I didn't see any info on the max wind speed.

http://www.magenn.com/

Sceadwian

How about lightning, or even just the general high voltages that can be created by wind blowing aross something that large. It's innovative, but I honestly can't think of a single situation where it would be better or cheaper to do it that way as opposed to useing and emergency generator or some ground based portable generators.

__________________

philba

Hmmm, maybe these ideas aren't so crackpot. here's an Economist article on several other approaches.

http://www.economist.com/science/tq/...ory_id=8952080