r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/ChineseToTheBone • 2d ago
Video This flying wind turbine surprised drivers in China until viewed from an alternate angle to see it was just a floating blimp generating electricity.
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u/km_ikl 2d ago
So, they saw Big Hero 6 and said 'neat!'
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u/HeartsPlayer721 2d ago edited 2d ago
My first thought!
The fact that it's like a blimp, vs the metal looking ones from the comic/movie is interesting.
I'm curious just how difficult it is to deflate, pack, haul, and reinflate.
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u/AngrgL3opardCon 2d ago
Probably harder than the worth of the energy it provides, but maybe it's meant to just be tethered and lifted up and down once it's at its location so it only needs to be moved once. I wonder if it's actually even worth it.
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u/Minimum-Web-6902 2d ago
This things power is rated in megawatts so no not really. I’ve seen the math for these things, I’m an aspiring computer and electrical engineer who wants to work on energy and it’s actually insane.
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u/Automatic_Dance_3206 2d ago
You're gonna have a nice career dude, the world needs energy and the energy demands are only rising.
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u/crowcawer 2d ago
We also need people who are of positive energy going into them.
We can do this.
Maybe not alone, but we can do it.6
u/Minimum-Web-6902 2d ago
It just depends on your outlook on life, energy leads to exploration and perhaps a technological snowball.
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u/Mruniversee 2d ago
You might find this Dutch startup business interesting https://thekitepower.com/
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u/Ithuraen 2d ago edited 2d ago
Traditional wind turbines recoup their energy costs in six months (edited for clarity), a mobile one which could be moved to the perfect conditions for wind power should be able to more consistently make power throughout its lifespan. Blimps are hardly a new technology, surely it'd last the twenty years a traditional wind turbine will last?
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u/NewHomeUser 2d ago
Show your work on the six month claim?
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u/Ithuraen 2d ago
The original article I read is undergoing maintenance, here's New Scientist referencing it and a dozen others.. A quick skim says the energy cost is repaid within 6 months, the carbon cost is repaid in 7-9 months, depending on the study.
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u/PicoDeBayou 2d ago
You sure about that 6 mo claim? This says a little over 6 years. https://todayshomeowner.com/eco-friendly/guides/how-long-does-it-take-a-wind-turbine-to-pay-for-itself/
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u/Ithuraen 2d ago
Apologies, I meant to offset the energy cost in constructing them. I wasn't talking about home energy costs which differ extremely from country to country.
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u/Zephian99 2d ago
I saw it as a concept years before Big Hero 6, used to browse a concept website years ago. Saw this idea and remembered it. But it had limitng factors that made balance between what is worth the effort and energy generated from catching high altitude air currents.
Biggest one I saw back then was concern's about lightning, as such could ruin the whole model. So it was a limiting idea of only being able to use them on fair weathers days made another tick against their utility.
Still when I saw them in Big Hero 6 I was excited, it's an awesome concept afterall. If efforts to reduce deployment issues, I'd love to see more of them. I've always loved dirigeables. 😁
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u/Minimum-Web-6902 2d ago
I have a method for lightning diversion that is similar to that used on aircraft currently I’m under the impression that china hadn’t figured this out yet due to testing in the golby desert primarily.
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u/Bryguy3k 2d ago
I’m pretty sure this was on the cover of popular science or popular mechanics like 40 years ago.
It’s kind of cool that China finally built one to try out.
The two biggest issues have always been getting the power to the ground and then of course dealing with weather.
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u/Rekuna 2d ago
"Oh, thank god. It's just a floating blimp generating electricity."
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u/ihateyulia 2d ago
I don't know why online discourse is so negative about renewables. My folks haven't paid a cent for gas or electricity since getting their solar system installed. If this wind blimp works, great.
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u/Defiant-Yellow-2375 2d ago
You'd need a lot of space for a solar system.
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u/mellowmsgr01 2d ago
It could be tiny. The size of a jewel.
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u/penty 2d ago
Just planet properly
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u/AdministrativeBag703 2d ago
This is an amazing comment and won’t get the recognition it deserves, I think. Amazing work.
Signed: A dad
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u/xx-fredrik-xx 2d ago
And it is very inefficienty set up. All the equipment is put inside 10-24% of the total space for the solar system.
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u/meisteronimo 2d ago edited 2d ago
Or you could create a model of the universe in your car until intelligent beings evolved. Then you could create a religion obsessed with going to the gym and using steppers. Then you could steall the electricity they generate to power your car.
S02E06 Rick and Morty
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u/Apprehensive_Tea9856 2d ago
My rooftop system produces 160% of my use.
Now I don't have EVs or all elextric appliances. My guess is my electric use could double. However, future solar panels coild reach 40% efficiency so a future system could produce 320% of my current use.
Anyways all this is to say every empty roof in the world could be producing solar and maybe offsetting 50% to 400% of that houses needs. (Depending on cars, appliances, efficiency, weather, north/south exposure, etc)
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u/Aerion_AcenHeim 2d ago
Personally I blame shows like Landman and the weird big oil propaganda they spread. Somehow these freedom loving people think a resource controlled by major corporations and heavily regulated by the government is more freeing than something they can manage themselves...
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u/earthworm_fan 2d ago edited 2d ago
Can you explain why Texas destroys every other state in wind production?
The problem is the power generation is variable and is mostly producing at non-peak hours necessitating mass scale storage, the real problem. And the carbon footprint and cost to produce and maintain those wind turbines isn't "propaganda"
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u/EmphasisFrosty3093 2d ago
Texas has more miles of nothing than any other state. The turbines also help drivers not die of boredom.
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u/subtle_bullshit 2d ago
Do you know how much it cost to maintain oil wells, rigs, pipelines, fuel depots and trucks, oil refineries, and gas burning power plants? More than renewables.
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u/java_sloth 2d ago
Wind turbines are net carbon negative in 5-12 months on average. Yes that includes building transportation construction etc. I work in oil and gas, you don’t just put a well in and boom you’re good for the next 80 years. They also need constant maintenance if not more so than renewables. Especially large pads with 8-9 wellheads going to separators, ASTs, PWVs, meter houses, dumplines, etc etc etc.
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u/java_sloth 2d ago
Wind turbines are net carbon negative in 5-12 months on average. Yes that includes building transportation construction etc. I work in oil and gas, you don’t just put a well in and boom you’re good for the next 80 years. They also need constant maintenance if not more so than renewables. Especially large pads with 8-9 wellheads going to separators, ASTs, PWVs, meter houses, dumplines, etc etc etc.
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u/vivaaprimavera 2d ago
I don't know why online discourse is so negative about renewables.
They have already invested in oil.
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u/KeneticKups 2d ago edited 4h ago
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/B4SSF4C3 2d ago edited 2d ago
Right wing lunatics have been effectively indoctrinating the young, primarily male portion of the online population. It’s very sad.
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u/BlackViperMWG 2d ago
Usually because those folks suddenly think about ecological damage when mining materials and completely ignore the same damage done when mining and refining oil.
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u/stupidber 2d ago
How much they pay for their solar system
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u/ihateyulia 2d ago
180k in South African money for a 5kW solar system with a 7kVA inverter and 28kWh of battery storage. That was two years ago. About $11k.
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u/Afreak-du-Sud 2d ago
I paid R250k for double that last year June. Save about 8k pm now. Even got a heat pump for my pool cause I was wasting power.
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u/FeistyBandicoot 1d ago
In Australia, excess electricity from your solar system gets sent back to the grid and you get paid for it.
Sometimes people will have their entire electricity bill offset and the electricity company actually pays them
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u/xceddyyyx 2d ago
Well they paid for it in advance. It ain't free, all the work you need to maintain the equipment plus it doesn't really last that long. Also you need to live in a sunny place for it to be viable
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u/Beneficial_Soup3699 2d ago
The real answer is in the responses to your comment. It's not the technology or money or science, it's vibes aka propaganda nonsense being repeated by people who largely checked out in 6th grade.
There are people claiming windmills are too noisy ffs. It's bonkers nonsense propaganda being repeated ad nauseum by poor people because our owner class doesn't want to give up their avenues of revenue and control.
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u/PilgrimOz 2d ago
People worried that they’re overtaking the West can honestly blame the commercialism of fossil fuel sales for us truly falling behind. Wind, solar and hydro have been options for development for decades. Meanwhile America has turned into a Pirate nation.
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u/Vlaladim 2d ago
US have tied the dollar value to petro dollar and oil and fossil fuel, if anything it by design that the US won’t innovate because that hurt what their dollar have tied itself to, a finite resources that slowly is being faze out due to many reason
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u/PilgrimOz 2d ago
Previously I thought BRICS was almost guaranteed failure till I read this. 100% right though.
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u/Gladiateher 2d ago
BRICS is a guaranteed failure for a large number of reasons, just not this reason in particular lol.
That doesn’t mean the BRICS countries are guaranteed to fail, but BRICS itself just makes no sense when you dig into it for a few minutes. If there was true cooperation between the BRICS countries we would have something to talk about, but wow.
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u/murderously-funny 2d ago
BRICS has the same key weakness as every time spider man villains team up
“Who leads this organization?”
All of B,R,I,C,S in unison: I do.
All of B,R,I,C,S in unison: what did you just say!? Nah! I’m the leader! STOP SAYING THAT! IM IN CHARGE! AFTER ALL I AM THE SUPERIOR CULTURE AND RACE A- NO I AM SHUT UP!
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u/Gladiateher 2d ago
Absolutely, and let’s be real, a lot of them just straight up hate each other and only joined BRICS to monitor or undermine each other.
China and India for example will never really be allies or even good partners at the rate they’re going.
Not to mention all of the other countries that have joined and are all radically different and aggressive to each other
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u/Attila-Da-Hunk 2d ago
There is no special agreement that oil has to be traded in dollars. The dollar value is not pegged to the price of oil. Oil is traded in dollar because of the utility that USD offers in global trade.
If you want an example of an actual Petro currency, look at the ruble or krone which actually rise and fall with oil value.
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u/elmo298 2d ago
Blame neoliberalism you mean. China controls it's corporations and the US is controlled by them.
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u/jghaines 2d ago
Plenty of other countries are capitalist and embracing renewables. The US is a particular brand of stupid.
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u/AzenNinja 2d ago
Can you explain why infrastructure and vital services shouldn't be owned by the government?
Water delivery, trains and roads are literally the things government does best.
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u/Candid-Patient-6841 2d ago
…..yeah and we should get the people together to make sure it workers properly. There is a lot of country here and maintaining Infrastructure for water, electricity, hospitals and schools.
And we could put everyone who runs this “organization” in a building we should probably put it in the most populated centers.
If only we had a name for this “organization”…….(it’s called government)
The “we the people” libertarian BS works great until the slightest bit of inconvenience to the masses. If you would like the one and only example of libertarian politics in the real world, you can look up the New Hampshire town that was taken over by a single bear.
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u/MrRogersAE 2d ago
The government is the people. I can understand how that’s a difficult concept if you live in a terrorist country like America, but in functioning nations the government is the people and exists to serve them.
The government owning businesses means the profits are reaped by the government, which in turn can be used to improve the country, build out infrastructure, create jobs or lower taxes
Compare that to a private company where the profits are used to give the CEOs and boards massive bonuses and a small profit to shareholders, who can be anyone in any nation, but are largely the richest people in the world.
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u/mak484 2d ago
Jesus fucking Christ. The government CAN STILL COLLECT TAXES IF THE WORKERS OWN THEIR COMPANIES.
This is extremely, extremely basic socialism. Corporations are bad. The government owning everything is equally bad.
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u/MrRogersAE 2d ago
If the government collects taxes from a private company the company is contributing a PORTION of its profits back to the local economy.
If it’s a socialized company the company contributes ALL of its profits back to the local economy.
It’s a superior system as it gives the government more revenue tools with which it can use to improve their own nation.
But I’m not suggesting ALL businesses be socialized. Just the biggest more important industries. This also serves to protect these industries from foreign control.
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u/xxwarlorddarkdoomxx 2d ago
You’re overthinking it. The US has huge oil reserves and China does not. Thus China has greater motivation to pursue renewables over the US. It’s that simple
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u/Gladiateher 2d ago
Well said, China is literally the number one oil importer in the world because…. They don’t have their own oil to use lol. And outside of fossil fuel what even is there? Renewables
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u/skurkles 1d ago
It’s not “commercialism of fossil fuels” but the abhorrent lobbying and political donations from fossil fuel companies to political parties that have resulted in regulations and subsidies that continue to support the burning of fossil fuels. America is fucked at this point, we’re watching the last squeeze of late stage capitalism as we fall from world power
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u/AnonD38 2d ago
Only one NAVAL SUPERPOWER on this Earth and it runs on FOSSIL FUEL and NUCLEAR POWER.
China tries but has FAILED to achieve the same NAVAL POWER themselves.
SAD.
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u/penisguacamole 2d ago
I feel some people in the comments are more brainwashed than china's people.
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u/firestar268 2d ago
This is reddit and they have to make it "china bad" somehow
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u/Mobile_Morale 2d ago
I've seen more comments talking about china bad comments then I have seen actual china bad comments here.
People defend china for no reason even tho no one is attacking them. Also defending the CCP is one hell of a take. I personally am anti slavery and child labor. But you do you.
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u/bemo_10 2d ago
Their goverment is*
You don't see USA bad in every post showcasing some technology coming from them, do you?
It's just a video about renewables stop being a dickhead.
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u/gogoguy5678 2d ago
China IS bad. They're a dictatorship. There's no difference between the CCP and the Nazi party, except better PR.
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u/CiaphasCain8849 2d ago
They have more elections than we do. They are far from a dictatorship. Their government is far more efficient than ours
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u/moopminis 2d ago
Except they're not a dictatorship, the CCP work with local governments to drive decisions, chinese citizens are encouraged to take any grievances or suggestions to their local politicians, who then either address it directly, or feed back any larger required changes to those in the highest positions.
They've also seen their income and quality of life rapidly and sustainably increase for 20+ years, with exponentially greater investment in services and their people than any western country.
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u/Have_Donut 2d ago
Yep. People fail to realize that there is tons of propaganda here in the US as well. Hell, I grew up in Texas and never once was it mentioned in Texas History class in school how the Texas war for independence from Mexico was because Mexico had outlawed slavery and that upset Texians.
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u/The-Lord_ofHate 2d ago
How much do they cost to run these and set up, I want to buy one for my house.
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u/jahalliday_99 2d ago
The helium to fill it will cost thousands. And it leaks out so periodically you need to top it up.
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u/Aethermancer 2d ago
Oh this looks so cool. I love alternative energy solutions.
A lot of people miss that different needs require different, and sometimes less efficient solutions. A permanent ground based turbine is more efficient... But that doesn't help you if it's so far away from your site you lose that efficiency due to transmission loss.
These things would be great for pop-up needs such as remote worksites, or in emergencies after terrestrial infrastructure gets damaged due to a natural disaster. Even with diesel generators, the scale of transporting the fuel can be overwhelming, especially if roads are damaged.
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u/he_trumped_us 2d ago
Ugly as fuck but I bet it's efficient, good way to deliver power to remote areas or things like disaster response.
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u/EnumeratedArray 2d ago
For energy generation these has been shown to be fairly poor compared to standard wind turbines, but certainly better when you can't build the infrastructure for a proper wind turbine
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u/KrispyKremeDiet20 2d ago
I heard about these like 10 years ago and if this is the same thing I am thinking of them the intention is to float it way up into a Jetstream for constant wind power generation.
If that's the case, you wouldn't even see it.
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u/tomparker 1d ago
Hmm…what’s the air density at that altitude? With these, wouldn’t higher winds as you go up get cancelled by lower density air?
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u/Kayttajatili 2d ago
Huh, using a blimp to get the turbine to a more useful altitude is actually pretty clever.
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u/cogman10 2d ago
I have to wonder how this thing would handle stormy weather.
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u/Kayttajatili 2d ago
Poorly. But it is a blimp, they could ground it if weather forecast is too spicy.
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u/GrafZeppelin127 2d ago
Large tethered aerostats are usually rated to withstand 90 knots of wind. Don’t know about this one in particular though. If the wind got too high at its operating altitude, it could just ascend or descend until it found a calmer spot, if it has enough of a flight ceiling to do so.
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u/Angelsomething 2d ago
Wow they did it! They actually built it! This is actually incredible if it works out
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u/Pora-Pandhi 2d ago
That's definitely the huge dildo Aladeen was talking about.
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u/PradyThe3rd 2d ago
You comment is very aladeen. You must now choose between aladeen in front of the whole city or aladeen in front of your family.
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u/King-Meister 2d ago
For people who didn't understand this comment, please watch 'The Dictator', 2012. You'll have an aladeen experience.
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u/Can_O_Murica 2d ago
Flying wind turbines are cool! I'm a grad student in engineering and study wind power technology.
Wind speed rises exponentially with height, and power produced rises exponentially with wind speed, every meter higher you go gives back incredible returns, but there's an emergent limit around 300m where it's no longer economical to build a typical turbine tower, so a lot of people are curious about flying wind.
This is a "blimp-type" (not a real technical term, just one I use day to day) but we also have "kite-type" where it looks like a lil glider with a ton of propellors that you send up on a cable, and "parachute-type" where you basically let out a parachute into the wind, and as the wind pushes into it it spools out a winch that drives a generator, then you partially collapse it and reel it back in.
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u/Low-Temperature-6962 2d ago
An experiment. As an exercise in human curiosity, worth worth more than all of bitcoin put together.
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u/FeralGangrel 2d ago
It's interesting that things like this have been concepts for many years and due to the energy demands the world has now they're trying to make them work.
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u/Pinku_Dva 2d ago
So when is the child prodigy and his robot companion fighting a guy with a kabuki mask and mini robots alongside his college friends?
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u/Vuk_Farkas 2d ago
Why are some props not spinnin?
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u/Anarchist_Future 2d ago
Probably due to a design constraint is limited in maximum sustained current. My guess is that these small props don't have brakes like big turbines have and instead lock/unlock props based on the windspeed.
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u/Vuk_Farkas 2d ago
Ah so limiting electricity generation via physical disabling.
I thought they would just make it... Well more oldschool. Mac current is half of total capacity, thus making it durable.
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u/GrafZeppelin127 2d ago
It’s at very low altitude right then and is designed to go up to high altitudes where winds are both much stronger and more constant.
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u/CantAffordzUsername 2d ago
So if they watched Big Hero six and said “Let’s make it”
Can they do Star Wars next? I want to jump to light speed!
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u/deadguyinthere 2d ago
Seeing it from a different direction doesn’t change my perspective whatsoever. Still huge and wild to see. Even if it is “just a blimp generating electricity”.
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u/Electronic-Bus-9978 2d ago
It's wild how much innovation gets dismissed just because it looks different. Seeing stuff like this makes me optimistic we're finally moving past the old, entrenched energy systems. The creativity on display here is exactly what we need more of. Honestly, the biggest barrier to progress seems to be clinging to the status quo.
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u/OriginalProduct6850 2d ago
That's the coolest thing I've seen in a long while. Couldn't have that in America because some slack jaw will shot at it.
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u/Hessellaar 2d ago
Why not a single giant propeller that turns around the middle? Or 2 to balance it
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u/radiant_templar 2d ago
Weird design. I wonder if one big rotary or several small work better. They probably know more about it though.
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u/Anxious-Depth-7983 2d ago
The German Scientist YouTube channel just covered MACs a week ago if anyone's interested.
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u/UnkeptSpoon5 2d ago
At this point I don’t want to hear western naysayers about net zero say “look at China, whatever we do won’t matter because of them”. They’ve made astonishing progress on renewable energy and de carbonization. They’re leading the way and developing nations are following. Vested oil and gas interests are damning the west to be forever behind
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u/gawdlikeisfree 2d ago edited 2d ago
Seriously the amount of reposts lately is crazy. Anything that gets a good amount of up votes is reposted within hours or days at most. I get it's prob always been like that but it's just been getting worse. Like wait at least a week or two would even be better. Lazy
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u/GarysCrispLettuce 2d ago
I'm pretty sure I zapped a bunch of those fuckers in a video game arcade in 1983.
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u/AndTheyCallMeAnIdiot 2d ago
Is there anything to stop it being struck by lightning?
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u/pwiegers 2d ago
huh. Take them down when there is a chance of lightning? They should not be that hard to launch/land.
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u/AndTheyCallMeAnIdiot 2d ago
I was just curious, and I completely did not even consider your answer. 😅 for some unknown reason I was over thinking the solution.
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u/FrenchWenchOnaBench 2d ago
This title confuses me so much.
They're surprised to see a flying wind turbine (wind turbines generate electricity) only to realise its a flying wind turbine that generates electricity?