14 DAY TRIAL // The inventor of small wind turbines managed to take home the 2011 ConocoPhillips Energy Prize. Ben Glass and Adam Rein from Altaeros Energies are excited to showcase their new invention.
The award went to Altaeros Airborne Wind Turbines, quite impressive tiny gadgets which are able to provide up to 100 kilowatts of renewable energy while floating in the great blue sky.
Their functioning depends on helium, but manufacturers guarantee us that such a device is able to continue its journey through the cloud for months, without becoming hungry.
“While initially the company plans to sell these elevated turbines for remote uses such as military applications, emergency power and other remote installations, eventually they will form the basis of offshore, deep-water wind farms floating high above the waves,” according to Penn State Live.
We can't say for sure whether these innovative ideas will be able to provide actual solutions to our environmental and power-related issues. What we do know is that they look good, seem pretty useful and somehow managed to make their designers proud by collecting a prestigious award.