Windmills in the Sky – Australian engineer envisions a cluster of flying windmills soaring 15,000 feet in the air

Australian engineer Bryan Roberts wants to build a power station in the sky — a cluster of flying windmills soaring 15,000 feet in the air — but is having trouble raising enough money to get the project off the ground.

After 25 years of research, Roberts has designed a helicopter-like rotorcraft to hoist a wind turbine high into the air, where winds are persistent and strong. The craft, which is powered by its own electricity and can stay aloft for months, feeds electricity to the ground through a cable.

Roberts, a professor of engineering at the University of Technology, Sydney, believes there is enough energy in high-altitude winds to satisfy the world’s demands. Wind-tunnel data suggests a cluster of 600 flying electric generators, or FEGs, could produce three times as much energy as the United States’ most productive nuclear power plant.

Roberts has teamed up with Sky WindPower, a San Diego startup that is trying to commercialize his invention.

By David Cohn

Full Story: http://wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,67121,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2