Go Fly a Kite: The Latest in Renewable Energy

Dutch scientists have succeeded in generating enough electricity to power 10 homes by tethering a kite to a generator, the first step in what they hope will be the creation of arrays of high-altitude kites that produce as much energy as a coal-fired power plant. Researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands created the energy by flying a 10-square meter kite and then powering a generator from the tension created when the kite moved up and down in loops through the sky. The experiment is part of a project known as Laddermill, under which Dutch scientists, directed by a former astronaut, hope to launch squadrons of plane-like kites as high as 10,000 meters to harness winds that are 20 times more powerful than at sea level. Such arrays may eventually be capable of creating 100 megawatts of power, enough to supply 100,000 homes.