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Wind power: High hopes

Nature volume 460, pages 564–566 (2009)Cite this article

A vast supply of energy is racing around the planet far above the surface. Erik Vance meets the engineers trying to bring the power of high-altitude wind down to earth.

A ride on a kite boat might just kill you from fright — if it doesn't crush you first. The vessel is essentially Fan 8-metre catamaran dragged behind a kite the size of a movie screen — a lot of horsepower for such a small craft. That concern grips me as I skitter across the surface of San Francisco Bay at 40 kilometres per hour. Sudden tugs from the kite jerk the boat from side to side and sometimes nearly out of the water.

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References

  1. Archer, C. L. & Caldeira, K. Energies 2, 307-319 (2009).

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  2. America's Energy Future Panel on Electricity from Renewable Resources Electricity From Renewable Resources: Status, Prospects, and Impediments 48–53 (National Academies Press, 2009).

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Authors
  1. Erik Vance
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Erik Vance is a freelance science writer in Berkeley, California.

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Vance, E. Wind power: High hopes. Nature 460, 564–566 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/460564a

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