[GPSCC-chat] [Fwd: [TASC Notes:] Wind Power Anywhere]

[Tian Harter]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[TASC Notes:] Wind Power Anywhere
Date: 	Wed, 9 Jun 2010 13:54:49 EDT
From: 	TNHarter at aol.com
To: 	undisclosed-recipients:;




>
>
>
> *Fred
> Ferguson                                                                                                                    *
> *Wind Power Anywhere
> *
>  
> Fred Ferguson, is founder and CTO of Magenn Power Inc., and the
> inventor of Magenn Power's high altitude wind turbine, the Magenn Air
> Rotor System or MARS. MARS is a lighter-than-air tethered wind turbine
> that rotates about a horizontal axis in response to wind, generating
> electrical energy. The electrical energy is transferred down the
> 1000-foot tether for immediate use, or to a set of batteries for later
> use, or to the power grid.
>  
> Fred, who was recently featured on the Discovery Channel's/ Project
> Earth/ series, will describe MARS as a Wind Power Anywhere™ solution
> and its advantages over existing conventional wind turbines and diesel
> based energy generating systems. If time permits, Fred will also talk
> about his incubator company 'FTI' that prototypes new energy and
> advanced technology inventions, such as advanced airships and an
> underwater version of the Magenn type of turbine.
>
>
>
> Fred began by explaining that he is a descendant of Samuel Morse, the
> guy that invented Morse Code, who probably gave him the inventive
> genes. He started in technology working on printer technology for the
> newspaper publishing industry. He left that industry upon his success
> of designing and developing an automated pre-press system to help the
> newspaper industry. From this he pursued an ambition to broaden his
> scope into commercial development of technologies on an global scale. 
>
> Since then he has worked on lighter than air craft of various types,
> something that has taken about thirty years so far.  For the Star Wars
> project back in the '80s he developed a series of high altitude
> geostationary observation blimps. Walrus airships for Lockheed were an
> off-shoot of that. Since then he's done some work on cargo blimps.
> Making something a cost effective transportation system is a big
> challenge, because nobody wants to pay more to do something they can
> already do for a reasonable price. So far they haven't designed a
> blimp that will really move cargo cheaply.
>
> Fred came across some information about California's brown outs
> waiting in a dentist's office about half a dozen years ago. He started
> thinking about how to get power from a tethered airship, and has since
> developed the magenn airships to do exactly that. He showed us
> pictures of the things. They're symmetrical blimps with three vanes
> running the length of the body to scoop air that are tethered from
> both ends so they can rotate around the axle. The tether has vanes on
> it to orient the rotating balloon into the wind. Fred explained that
> the tether should be about 1000 feet long, because the winds are much
> more constant that high up. The thing should be filled with Helium,
> and big enough to support all that cable and the generator. The
> smallest Magenn Rotors such as the one in the picture is at least 18
> feet in diameter, and the largest over 100 feet or longer than that.
>
> The technology scales well. The price sheet shows models ranging from
> 4 to 1600 kW in size. Fred explained that they have done quite a bit
> of prototyping and wind tunnel testing. The company is currently
> building a larger test unit (100 kW) at Moffett Field. He expects to
> be selling units as powerful as the largest windmills for about half
> the price starting late next year (2011). For more information please
> visit magenn.com.
>
> During Q&A the following came up:
>
> Good applications for the technology are places where wiring to the
> grid is cost prohibitive. In South Africa there are lots of mines that
> are currently powered by generators, and the $5/gal. fuel gets
> expensive after a while. A Magenn system can bring that down a lot.
> Another application is villages in India that are far from the power
> grid there. A local grid running on power from a Magenn system would
> be MUCH cheaper to install. India has about 100,000 such villages
> right now.
>
> Balloon tethering technology is mature. We have been doing it since
> the Civil War, when observation balloons were one of the first uses of
> the technology. No significant R&D expense was required in that area.
>
> Helium in the balloons is expected to diffuse out at about a half a
> percent per month. Helium scrubbing is needed every six months or so
> to maintain buoyancy. A Helium charge should last about 16 years.
>
> If the technology is successful there will be issues with Helium
> supply. However, in a lot of the world "Hydrogen" is not a bad word
> for airship buoyancy the way it is in the USA. Hydrogen would work,
> and can be made on the spot very cost effectively. Much of the world
> isn't bothered by the Hydrogen risks the way Americans are.
>
> Fred would love to make a backpack portable unit that could be
> parachuted into disaster zones and deployed to provide power for
> communications or whatever. In Iraq U.S. contractors have to pay
> $100/Gallon for generator fuel. That makes these generators very
> competitive.
>
> Similar kinds of rotors can be used to get power from tidal currents
> in sea water that are moving as slowly as one mile per hour.
>
> Tian Harter

-- 
Tian
http://tian.greens.org
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