The future of renewable energy might be in the sky. Researchers in China have reportedly tested a new, gravity-defying wind turbine system that they say could generate power from the airspace above cities.
The turbine is called the S2000 Stratosphere Airborne Wind Energy System, or SAWES. Held up by what is essentially a helium blimp, the machine reportedly generated 385 kilowatts of electricity from 2,000 meters (more than 6,500 feet) above the city of Yibin in China’s province of Sichuan, according to a recent Euronews report.
You can see it in action in the video below.
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"Traditional wind turbines operate by rotating their blades when wind strikes them, thereby generating electricity,” said Weng Hanke, co-founder and chief technology officer of the turbine’s maker, Beijing Linyi Yunchuan Energy Technology, to Euronews. “This generator functions similarly, except that power generation occurs not at ground level but in the air.” As the blades spin, cables carry electricity to the ground.
Researchers reportedly conducted similar tests last September, and the machine is still a prototype. Although China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, the country is also the global leader in renewable energy, especially wind and solar.