WindLift Power

Water Partners International has been compiling a solid list of Water Crisis headlines from 2005-2007.

Since I usually try to avoid reinventing the wheel our time would be better spent if you just went to their site.

Water Crisis Headlines – 2007

Headlines from 2006 and 2005 are also available. This site is an excellent resource, and I am going to make it a permanent link on the main page.

A recent article in NewKerala.com says that conservation is the key to overcoming global water scarcity.  De-salination is seen as an “expensive, energy intensive process.”  In reverse osmosis systems that expense is pumping power.

The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security produced a stunning article in August, 2004 that absolutely confirms the water-energy crisis WindLift will solve.

Please, READ THIS ARTICLE, and post your thoughts here.

I truly believe this will be the worst problem facing billions of people around the world in our lifetimes. Because of the water – energy relationship an energy crisis does not mean that just driving cars, heating and lighting homes, and going to the mall will be more expensive… it means that food will be more expensive. This is because of the high energy costs required to irrigate fields, operate farm machinery, produce fertilizer, prepare and package food, and transport it to market. WindLift is capable of solving the irrigation part of the equation, but the rest will require a total reorganization of our food distribution system. This will happen peacefully over time, as long as governments and their entrenched bureaucracies stay out of the way and allow creative farmers and entrepreneurs to imagine a better way.

This is already happening with the huge popularity of farmer’s markets and the local food movement in the U.S.A. Luckily Madison, WI has one of the best farmer’s markets in the country. Unfortunately, farmer’s markets are generally more expensive because they haven’t achieved the economics of scale in industrial agriculture. Farmer’s markets also require large energy expenditures to transport small-batches of produce, and support the labor force for organics. Hopefully these inefficiencies can be driven out of the system by innovators such as Heather Hilleren at GreenLeaf Market.

Dane County Farmer’s Market

Eat Local Food

Wired put out this article in October on Kite Power.

Sequoia was honored earlier this year with a 2006 World Renewable Energy Award for its work on KiteGen.

Yesterday, Channel 3 news here in Madison did a 2-min special on the WindLift pump. The Journal-Sentinel article got picked up by Madison’s Channel 3 news anchor, Pam Tauscher. She came out to see the prototype with her camera man, Rick, and they did a really nice story on yesterday’s news. I was very impressed with how well they put everything together. It was also pretty cool to be on T.V., and they even got a shot of my son, Will. He is a star!

It was interesting that Pam Tauscher reffered to WindLift as a “low-tech” invention. When they start referring to your invention as “low-tech” that means people finally understand it, and think it will work.

I am including a YouTube link here (in case Channel 3000 doesn’t save the piece), but please click through to the Channel 3000 website and give them a little traffic too.

A question I often get asked is, “Why pump water? Why not just generate electricity and sell it on the grid?”

There are three main reasons why I chose water pumps as the first target market for kite power.

1. Power Surges – Kites generate large surges in power. Unlike turbine towers which have a built-in flywheel in the mass of the blades, kites have very little inertia and small changes in wind velocity can generate huge surges in power. I am not an electrical engineer, but from what little I understand power surges are not welcome on the electrical grid. Water pumps can be designed to take advantage of surges in power with a simple pressure tank attached to the pump at the base of the well. Of course above a certain range the kite itself will have to be de-powered.

2. Power Storage – It is very expensive to store electrical power, and the modern grid electric system doesn’t store power. In the grid electric system electricity production is constantly being matched to electrical consumption. This is a challenge for windpower. This means that when the wind isn’t blowing a standby generator needs to be instantly fired up to keep supply in line with demand. FuturePundit quotes Mathew Wald in the NYtimes, “if wind machines reach 20 percent of total generating capacity… the cost of standby generators will reach $8 a megawatt-hour of wind”. For reference a new coal plant goes for $33-$41 MwH. If you want to store power from a water pump you just need to build an elevated reservoir, or water tower.

3. Distributed Applications – Rural electric power is an expensive, heavily subsidized business. Only as economies mature will the rural electric grid infrastructure become robust enough to support electric pumps. In the U.S., expanding the grid infrastructure to rural poor required significant public subsidy from Roosevelt’s Rural Electric Administration. This program drove many windmill manufacturer’s out of business. India today spends over $6 Billion per year (Power Subsidies – Lucio Monari)in electric subsidy to irrigation pumps. Unfortunately, these subsidies are also distorting the marketplace, limiting the competitiveness of unsubsidized alternative energy solutions. Electric power is cleaner than distributed diesel pumps, but nuclear, coal, and natural gas powered electric plants are also major polluters. The United Nations Environment Programme is attempting to remedy this situation in India by subsidizing loans for solar and wind power.

For the WindLift project I went back to the drawing board, and decided to try a cheap, simple, approach to pumping water using kites. This allows us to produce a completely mechanical system without the design and testing expense of electronic and computer controlled systems. Once we have a totally mechanical system operating routinely automation will be much easier.

Dr. Donald Hopkins, MD is doing amazing work eradicating guinea worm disease. Water bourne diseases are endemic in many areas where untreated surface water is used for drinking and cooking. Guinea Worm is one of the worst. The Chicago Tribune has a solid article on his work from May 12th titled, “Doctor without Borders.“

The chief of Savelugu stood at a microphone and asked Carter for “a big pumping machine which will help give us enough water.”
Everywhere, people are desperate for clean water. But the wells are expensive, and engineers often can’t find water in the ground.

Stories like these are what keep me plugging away at our kite powered pumps.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel had a nice article on WindLift on Tuesday, June 12 called, “The Sky’s the Limit for Kite Power“  It was a solid article and explained what I am trying to accomplish with WindLift.  Being compared to Ben Franklin was a little over the top, but I’ll take it.

Sandia National Laboratories submitted a report, “”Energy Demands on Water Resources Report to Congress on the Interdependency of Energy and Water” in December, 2006. It was just released to the public in February. This report is very clear and concise, and paints a pretty bleak picture for the future of water and energy in the US.  Check out the following chart to get an idea how much energy you consume to get the water you need.