Harnessing the Jet Stream
Published on 15 Apr 2007 at 1:19 am.
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Filed under Energy, Inventions, Research.
Bryan W. Roberts, David H. Shepard, and colleagues recently published a paper in IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion Vol 22 No.1 March 2007 titled “Harnessing High Altitude Wind Power” where they propose to harness the wind energy of the Jet Stream. Their research paper can be found here.
The Jet Streams are relatively narrow high speed rivers of wind flowing in the upper atmosphere at altitudes of approximately 7 miles. Their speeds depend on the temperature gradient, and thus are faster in the summer than the winter with speeds sometimes exceeding 200 miles per hour. As such, they carry an enormous amount of kinetic energy and have the potential to meet the majority of the world’s energy needs.
The ideas goes at least as far back as a patent written by David H. Shepard in the mid 1980’s. Their idea today is refined, and calls for a 1.5 MegaWatt Flying Electric Generator consisting of a tethered rotocraft with rotor diameters of 88 feet. This could easily be constructed using today’s technology and according to the author’s calculations, could supply energy at only 2 cents per kilowatt-hour. The environmental impact would be far lower than wind farms covering entire hillsides.
More can be found here at Sky Windpower Corporation.
Kevin Knuth
Albany NY
