WindLift Power

There have been lots of exciting developments for Windlift lately.  The biggest news is the first High Altitude Wind Power conference in Chico, California.

I am planning to go out for the conference, and will be speaking.

Here is my talk summary.

Mobile Wind Power for Agriculture and Economic Development

Tethered wind power systems have three advantages over turbine based approaches to harnessing wind: higher altitude, larger swept area, and the absence of a tower or foundation.  The high cost of energy storage and capacity factor concerns have driven most practitioners to focus on the steadier winds found at higher altitudes.  This approach has some significant benefits; however, it introduces many engineering challenges. The larger swept area available to a cross-wind system allows a relatively small and portable airfoil to harness tremendous amounts of power.  The absence of a tower or foundation allows the base station to be mounted on a truck or a boat.  These latter advantages of a tethered system have driven Windlift to develop an off-grid mobile system for agriculture and economic development.

There have been many other significant developments for the company.  I have been instructed not to say anything public right now, but it is all good!

Hope to go public before Christmas.

I was having trouble getting motivated this morning, so I thought I’d poke around and find out what is happening in the world of water.  Some families are into sports, some into music, others into politics. My mom is a Soil and Water Resource Manager up in Northern Minnesota, my grandfather owns a farm down in Iowa, and I kiteboard.  I guess you could say my family is into water.  Water for crops, water for streams and aquifers, clean water for lakes and oceans.  Some of the most heated discussions around our dining room table have been how the run-off from grandpa’s farm is polluting the aquifers and streams.  I try to stay above the fray, but sometimes the smell of rot and the mass of weeds (from fertilizer run-off) in my favorite kite-boarding spots can be a bummer.  Especially when I crash my kite, and the lines get tangled up.

Anyway, I read this article in the New Scientist that got me thinking.

My thoughts were:

1. As long as governments subsidize electricity and grid-expansion to rural areas, WindLift will need to work with governments. (Subsidies distort incentives, and cause long-term problems!)
2. WindLift pumps don’t help the problem of exhausted aquifers, they just help reduce the 50% of electric power that goes to irrigation pumps in these countries.
3. Direct mechanical connections to water tables 1 km down are expensive.  Electric or compressed air would be cheaper.
4. We’re all freakin’ DOOMED!

Or mabye not…  Check out this awesome project.  My latest brainstorm is to have WindLift systems floating over Deep Ocean Water sites using a tube/tether anchor to pump up cold water and condense fresh water.  I’m not sure if this would be cheaper than reverse osmosis membrane de-salination, but I am willing to do a project in the tropics to find out.

Later…

A recent article in the NY Times illustrates the immense challenge in cunducting intermittent wind energy from producing regions to consuming regions using the current grid infrastructure.

This problem has driven WindLift’s product development in our push for a distributed solution.   Because kites are able to access higher altitude wind, and the base stations can be mounted on a truck or a boat there is no need for expensive grid infrastructure.  We believe the better focus of scarce capital is to build local energy storage systems either as elevated water or compressed air.  This would insure a modular and robust renewable energy infrastructure.  A large government funded grid infrastructure is vulnerable to war, weather, and human error. This could be a real problem, especially in emerging markets.  The cost in lost lives and production if this grid fails is a disaster waiting to happen.

The fact is that most people do not want to live in the windiest regions of the world. Throughout history human settlements have flourished in sheltered harbors, and wooded regions that provide reliable wind breaks.  This is probably because windy regions often have catastrophic storms that completely scour the landscape of buildings and crops.  Any renewable energy solution involving wind needs to recognize this fact, and plan for a way to bring wind energy to market.

We just published a real website.

Check it out at WindLift.biz

Someone is camping WindLift.com, so don’t give them your eyeballs.

Dearest Friends,

It is time I confess that I am a shameless contraptor bent on world liberation (and domination) with my “WindLift Kite Engines“. These wondrous machines have the promise to take back our planet from its current subjugation by sulfurous internal combustion engines. Combined with awesome new nano-engineered materials kite power will return us to the glorious age of sail, albeit with a marvelous twist.

Immersed in mechanics and business it is easy to lose sight of the mystery and beauty of kite energy. The strange feedback loops and surges of power that make what we do possible have an element of the fantastic. My hope is to turn kite engines into masterpieces, but sadly I, myself am artistically challenged. As I embark on long voyages around the world to demonstrate my machines I hope to share new creative visions with all, using kites as a resplendent canvas for talented artists in my employ.

Some have suggested I pollute the landscape with crass commercial messages to increase my profit. This short term thinking will doom kite energy in the inevitable public backlash. Instead I wish each kite to become a functional piece of art, reflecting the taste and passions of my customers.

Now I am looking for artists and web designers who can help me steampunkify The WindLift Kite Engine Company, reflecting my own taste and passions. If you are someone or know of someone who might be interested in working with me please send them my way. As my plans proceed, talented artists should expect to be showered with treasure from lands far and wide to realize whatever visions they desire.

Your Humble Servant,
Robert J. Creighton II, Founder and President of the WindLift Kite Engine Company

My hat goes off to Bill Tai and Suzi Mai for the amazing Mai-Tai Kiteboarding camp on Maui. While the wind conditions were a disappointment, the most incredible thing about this camp was the people who attended. It seemed like every time I turned around I was meeting another visionary entrepreneur or venture capitalist. Kite-boarding seems to attract a unique set of adrenaline junkies who are generous, funny, and kind. I made some good friends this week, and extend an open invitation to anyone on the trip to ride with me in North Carolina.

When I stepped off the plane on Friday, May 9th the winds were blowing over 30 knots. I arrived early to try and get some work done with Dan Tracy at Kites For Sail. I stayed with Dan at his very cool place out in Haiku. Thanks Dan!

Unfortunately, the forecast was for light Kona winds coming in for the main days of the camp on Tuesday-Friday. Luckily I was able to take advantage of the stronger trade winds to ride on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at Kanaha (Kite Beach). Watching the professionals ride on those days was unbelievable. Video doesn’t do justice to the awesome athletic abilities of these riders. It has to be seen in person to truly appreciate the skill and power required to pull off some of their tricks.

Even without wind on Tuesday-Friday I had a great time. Tracy and Kim from Charles River Ventures managed some amazing logistical feats, and the Silcon Valley Bank events were also a ton of fun.

On Saturday and Sunday the winds returned. They were not as strong as the previous week, but I was still able to ride my 8m Cabrinha SwitchBlade 3 (BUY THIS KITE!) on Saturday. Jesse Richman was also kiting that day, and that kid can throw down! Just unbelievable to watch the effortless grace Jesse brings to kiting.

On Sunday Dan and Ian demonstrated their latest prototype. Their new approach to kite propulsion is totally revolutionary. After the demo all I could do was clap my hands at Dan and Ian’s technical prowess and achievement. Kite For Sails’ product will turn the sailing world upside down. I wish I had a million dollars to invest in their company.

Thank you Bill for your generous invitation to this event. You are a great ambassador for the sport, and I look forward to kiting with you again soon.

Jeff Kafka took this picture of me learning how to jump. Next year I’ll learn how to land.

WindLift is moving to North Carolina in June. My wife matched at Duke University for her medical residency so it will work out well for both our jobs.

It has simply proven impossible to maintain any kind of prototype testing schedule here in Madison. Between the record snowfall 100+ inches (normally 40 inches), and extreme cold weather I am about 3 months behind on my business plan.

I grew up in Minnesota, and spent a winter working up in the Boundary Waters as a camp maintenance guy. The winter weather hasn’t bothered me, but it has been tough to get the volunteers I need to help out with prototype testing. Because our testing is mainly on windy days, and we are constantly tweaking the machine (cold aluminum and steel) it has been pretty miserable working outside. Just to make it clear that this season has been exceptional I found this blurb from the Weather Channel website…

“No Index City had more days this winter that registered 10 or more degrees below historical average than Madison (25). During the two weeks beginning on February 10th, the capital of Wisconsin endured 11 days of temps -10.0 degrees or more vs. history, with the final three days checking in at -21.0, -23.5 & -22.0.”

Anyway we are taking a cue from the Wright Brothers and moving our prototype testing to the outer banks of North Carolina.  Hopefully we will not run into a hurricane.

We finally got some video of the Truck-Mounted WindLift Kite Engine in action. The weather is finally warming up, and we are making great progress everyday.

It was a beautiful day and we were able to try out the new springs Chris made for the stops on the boom. After many adjustments to the steering system we finally got things working pretty well for a 7.5M HQ-Apex kite. The steering worked well, but we weren’t able to get any good shots of the mechanism cycling.

There are 4 critical bolts that hold the boom arm on the rotating post. Last week we put Locktite on those bolts to hold them in place. Unfortunately the LockTite didn’t cure properly in the cold weather, those bolts came loose, and the whole boom arm slipped off the center post. This could have been a total disaster, but luckily nothing was permanently damaged. We are going to redesign that linkage to insure that nothing like that happens again. It seems that there is a variation of Murphy’s Law that applies to video cameras.

We finally got a break in the weather on March 11 and had our first successful test! The reciprocating kite engine is cycling, and we are measuring the power output through our digital data acquisition system. We flew a 5 meter HQ- Apex in 5-25 mph winds. It was very gusty, but we were able to get some good results. Here are some pictures.

The 5 meter kite pulled like crazy.  When the kite powered up the steering was hard to handle, but the de-power systems worked great. The system didn’t damage the kite or the lines. Even still we flew with short lines and our smallest kite to reduce the risk of damage. Once everything is working well we will scale up to bigger kites and longer lines.  We also have some designs to make the steering much easier to handle as well.

On Wednesday, March 19th we set-up the system out on in a large field with great North-West wind exposure. It was warm and sunny (I got a sunburn), and we got some awesome data collection runs in. Here is a sample of some of the data. We are still figuring out scaling factors and trying to increase the sample rate (thus no x-y scales). X is time and Y is power. Measuring the power output has turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated. I’ll post real graphs with scaling factors as soon as possible.

Unfortunately we didn’t videotape those testing sessions, and near the end of the day one of the pieces on the system broke. Next week we’ll figure out a good fix for that little design flaw, and hopefully get some video up on YouTube soon. Madison got another 10 inches of snow today, and it might be awhile before we get out in the field again.

Getting to this point has been a tremendous effort. I am incredibly grateful to Jesse, Joel, and the rest of the Design Concepts crew who did such an amazing job.

This is really just the beginning. Watching this prototype in action has revealed some quick and simple changes we can make to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of the system. With a little time and money I am confident we can make portable, cheap wind energy available to everyone. Cheers!

MSN Finance just published a slightly terrifying article by Jon Markman on global grain prices titled, “Could we really run out of food?“.

It is a fascinating article that is a must read for anyone interested in eating.

Two facts he quoted that I found surprising:

1. 24% of US corn crop is currently used in biofuels production

2. A full tank of ethanol in your car uses enough corn to feed a person for one year.

If the peak oil enthusiasts are right we could be driving the global economy toward mass famine.   I only hope I can get the WindLift pumps on the market soon enough to open up new land for irrigation.