World's first megawatt-class flying wind turbine

China launched world's first megawatt-class flying wind turbine which floats at 6,000 feet in the Air

World’s first megawatt-class urban-used high-altitude wind power system, the S2000 Stratosphere Airborne Wind Energy System (SAWES), completes its test flight in Yibin, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. A pioneering energy-generating device utilizes reliable wind speeds at an altitude of 6,000 feet. A massive helium blimp generates megawatt-scale power from high-altitude winds above the clouds. A Chinese energy firm has successfully tested an experimental blimp-like wind turbine capable of generating energy in the skies above cities and inland communities. Developed by Beijing Linyi Yunchuan Energy Technology, the S2000 airborne wind energy system (AWES) is a large, helium-filled airship containing 12 wind turbines. The craft ascends thousands of feet into the air to harness the stable wind speeds at higher altitudes, which spin the turbines and generate electricity. This is then sent down the tethering cable to the ground below, where it can enter the grid. We are finally learning how to farm the sky for energy. All this time, the fastest, most consistent winds on Earth have stayed just out of reach. They swirled thousands of feet above our heads while we struggled to build taller and heavier steel towers on the ground. But in a quiet corner of Sichuan Province, a 197-foot silver giant just proved that we don’t need to build towers as tall as skyscrapers for turbines, we just need a very long leash.

The S2000, a massive airborne wind energy system (AWES), completed a landmark test flight. Developed by Beijing Linyi Yunchuan Energy Technology, this helium-filled “airborne power station” hovered at 6,560 feet (2,000 meters), funneling 385 kilowatt-hours of electricity directly into the local grid. In just 30 minutes, this single floating unit generated enough juice to power an average home for nearly two weeks. In its test flight, the manufacturers flew the S2000 above Sichuan Province, generating 385 kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is enough to power the average household for approximately 13.3 days, per usage figures provided by the US Energy Information Administration. In total, the S2000 clocks in at 197 feet (60 m) long, 131 feet (40 m) high and 131 feet (40 m) wide, as reported. The system is rated at 3 MW total power capacity. The new technology has a couple of potential uses, the developers suggest. "One is for off-grid settings like border outposts, where it can serve as a relatively stable conventional energy source,” explained Weng Hanke, CTO at Linyi Yunchuan Energy Technology, as reported. If realized at scale, the approach could have transformational potential for countries with constrained space for onshore wind generation, such as many in mainland Europe, as well as those without the shallow seabeds necessary for offshore wind power generation, such as Japan. However, the reliability of the tethered cable for delivering stable power to the grid will require further testing.

The S2000 is a behemoth and held up by helium, it doesn’t need a massive foundation. It just needs a high-tension tether that doubles as a power line. Suffice it to say, this is a mobile setup compared to the permanent turbine structures which require a deep foundation. “At its current output level, one hour of operation can generate enough electricity to fully charge approximately 30 top-spec electric vehicles from zero to full,” Dun Tianrui, chief designer of the system, said. The system fits into standard shipping containers and can be inflated and launched in under eight hours. For remote border outposts or islands where building a traditional power plant is impossible, these blimps offer a “plug-and-play” solution for the grid. “One is for off-grid settings like border outposts, where it can serve as a relatively stable conventional energy source,” Weng Hanke explained. “The other is to complement traditional ground-based wind power systems, creating a three-dimensional approach to energy supply.” Wind turbines can generate more power where the wind power density, the measure of wind energy that can be harnessed at a given altitude, is higher. Offshore wind turbines, for example, can capture the higher, more consistent wind speeds over open water. These offshore turbines can also be significantly larger than their onshore counterparts, with the hub of Chinese manufacturer Dongfang Electric’s DEW-26 MW-310 offshore turbine standing at 606.9 feet (185 m). Floating wind turbines can be similarly gigantic, with the tower for the recently-revealed, record breaking floating wind turbine from China Huaneng Group reaching 489 feet (152 m).

For example, the average offshore wind speed deemed suitable for wind farms at 295 feet (90 m) elevation within US waters is 7 meters/second, per the Marine Cadastre National Viewer, a web-based data viewer produced by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management. In all but the most remote rural communities, the 1.25-mile (2,000 m) cable could present a dangerous obstacle to aircraft. In the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority requires those wishing to fly tethered balloons above 200 feet (60 m) to apply for special permission to avoid risk to aircraft sharing airspace with the balloon. Beyond its safety concerns, the S2000 will also need to undergo rigorous testing to ensure its viability for reliable commercial operations. Standard wind turbines require regular maintenance and the craft could prove difficult and more costly to service as it will have to return to the ground for every repair. We have come a long way with this idea. The first airborne wind turbine was demonstrated by Altaeros Energies in 2014, above Alaska. This new S2000 is the successor to the S1500, a smaller but equally impressive unit tested earlier this year in the Xinjiang region. That “basketball court-sized” craft became the first of its kind to hit the one-megawatt power mark. The new S2000 has a power capacity of 3 MW.

The project is the result of a 2018 partnership between Weng Hanke and his former high school classmate, Dun Tianrui. They spent years obsessing over atmospheric physics and lightweight materials, trying to solve the problem of how to send high-voltage power down a mile-long cable without the weight of the cable dragging the blimp out of the sky. By removing the need for massive steel towers, the team claims they can slash material use by 40% and cut the cost of electricity by 30%. In the hyper-competitive world of green energy, those margins are huge. It’s hard to state the exact wind speed at various altitudes, as this varies by location and weather. The aerospace group Omnidea estimates that at altitudes between 328 and 8,200 feet (100 and 2,500 m), wind power density increases by approximately a factor of six, with an average wind speed of 33.5 mph (15 m/s) at 8,200 feet. This highlights the potential efficiencies to be unlocked with greater exploitation of higher-altitude wind speeds with tethered, flying wind turbines such as the S2000.

Near the Earth’s surface, wind is messy. It bumps into trees, buildings, and mountains, losing its punch. But as you climb, the air clears and the wind speed skyrockets. At altitudes between 328 and 8,200 feet (100 to 2,500 meters), wind power density, the actual energy available to be harvested, increases around sixfold. The S2000 is designed to live in that high-energy sweet spot. “Traditional wind turbines operate by rotating their blades when wind strikes them, thereby generating electricity. This generator functions similarly, except that power generation occurs not at ground level but in the air,” explained Weng Hanke, co-founder and CTO of Beijing Linyi Yunchuan Energy Technology. By catching these “rivers of air” in the upper atmosphere, the S2000 avoids the diminishing returns of ground-based wind. Instead of a single spinning fan on a pole, it uses a blimp-like frame to hold 12 lightweight turbines which spin constantly in the steady stratospheric currents. There is also the matter of maintenance. A traditional turbine is hard enough to service at 300 feet. A floating blimp at 6,000 feet has to be winched down to the ground for every repair, which could prove costly and time-consuming. Furthermore, helium is a non-renewable resource which is already in short supply for medical and scientific uses. Relying on it to lift our power plants adds a layer of scarcity to a “renewable” energy source. Despite these hurdles, the SAWES team is pushing for mass production in future. They aren’t just looking at the sky as a place for birds and planes anymore. They see it as a vast, untapped power source which is swirling above us for eons, just waiting for a wire.

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The Blood-Red Secret of Antarctica

Long-outstanding blood falls mystery of Antarctic finally solved 

A bright red waterfall bursting out of eternal ice, right in the middle of one of the coldest regions on Earth: Blood Falls are among the most mysterious natural phenomena in Antarctica. For a long time, it was assumed that red algae were responsible for the striking color. A new study has now brought clarity and paints a completely different picture. Scientists have linked a sudden burst of rust-red water at Antarctica’s Blood Falls to a measurable drop in the glacier sitting above it. This connection shows the red flow is not just a surface stain, but a visible signal of pressure changes and hidden water movement deep beneath the ice. Blood Falls were discovered in 1911 by the Australian geologist Griffith Taylor, a participant in the Terra Nova Expedition. He was the first to explore the valley which now bears his name. At the time, he attributed the red color to red algae. It was later proven, however, that the coloration is caused by iron oxides. It is located in the Antarctic Dry Valleys, one of the driest and coldest landscapes on Earth. The average temperature here is around minus 17 degrees Celsius conditions under which liquid water should hardly be able to exist. This made the long-standing mystery all the greater: why does liquid continuously flow out of cracks in the glacier? Imaging techniques provided the crucial explanation. Beneath the glacier lies a complex network of subglacial rivers and an underground lake. The water there is a highly concentrated brine, extremely salty and rich in iron.

In September 2018, a tracker on Taylor Glacier, a massive river of ice flowing through Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys, recorded a drop as a camera caught Blood Falls turning on. Peter T. Doran, a geoscientist at Louisiana State University (LSU) matched the drop to the outflow and linked it to lower pressure. Over weeks, his team saw the surface sink, then recover, suggesting a short-lived drainage pulse under the glacier. Limited coverage left gaps, so future monitoring must track more sites to reveal how often the glacier vents. At roughly 60 feet (18 meters) deep, lake water cooled by as much as 2.7°F (1.5°C). Dense brine can slip into the lake at the depth where its weight matches surrounding water, then spreads outward. This injection disturbed stratification, stable layers which keep lake water from mixing, and it likely moved nutrients sideways. Life in Antarctica’s Dry Valleys lakes sits in tight bands, so even small jolts can change who gets food and energy. Salt turns ordinary water into a chemical mix which resists freezing, even when air temperatures stay far below freezing. Researchers call that mix brine, salt-heavy water that stays liquid in deep cold, and Blood Falls carries it to daylight. Over hundreds and even thousands of years, repeated freezing can concentrate salts, leaving a liquid which keeps moving through the ice. These salts likely come from hidden rock and deposits, and their chemistry offers clues about what lies under Taylor Glacier.

Using modern radar technology, researchers examined the layers of ice which feed the waterfall. The results showed that the blood-red color does not come from biological material, but from extremely salty, iron-rich water hidden beneath the ice. For a long time, it was a mystery why liquid continuously emerges from cracks in the glacier. Pressure builds when heavy ice traps salty water beneath it, and the glacier cannot hold that squeeze forever. At Blood Falls, the liquid comes from subglacial channels located under a glacier and sealed from air that can open during ice motion. Weight and slow creep of the ice can push the salty mix toward cracks, where it escapes in sudden pulses. The pulses stay hard to predict, since small changes in stress or blockage can delay a release for months. Earlier, explorers logged the red seep at the glacier face, and an Antarctic protection plan still guards the site. Once the liquid meets air, oxidation, iron reacting with oxygen and turning rust-red, changes the color within minutes. Tiny iron particles form in the salty water underground, then stain the ice as the flow spreads downslope. That fast color change makes each discharge easy to spot, which helps scientists track when the hidden system opens.

The mystery at the Taylor Glacier is well documented. A 0.6-inch drop in the glacier surface arrived with nearly a 10% slowdown in its forward motion. Draining water reduces pressure at the base, so the ice presses harder on rock and moves less easily. “These observations demonstrate that an extended brine discharge event, characterized by episodic pulses of brine sourced from beneath Taylor Glacier over one month, reduces subglacial water pressure, which lowers the surface and reduces ice velocity,” wrote Doran. Later measurements suggested the ice stayed a bit slower than before, but only longer records can confirm lasting change. The special chemical composition explains several mysteries at once. Saltwater has a significantly lower freezing point than freshwater. In addition, it releases heat when it freezes. This so-called latent heat of fusion causes the surrounding ice to partially melt, allowing the water to continue flowing even under extreme subzero temperatures. When the iron-rich brine reaches the surface and reacts with oxygen, the iron oxidizes. The water turns a rusty red, giving Blood Falls their blood-like appearance.

Blood Falls are located at the end of the retreating Taylor Glacier. Daily camera frames of an ice-covered Antarctic lake, showed fresh staining starting 19 Sep, 2018, and the stain area expanded. Meanwhile, a lake thermistor, a tiny sensor that measures temperature changes, detected a temperature dip at depth during the same discharge. In their report, the authors wrote that the serendipitous recording of three different datasets provided a rare, coherent signal of a subglacial brine drainage event. Only a short window produced this record, yet it captured how fast the system can change once it starts. From the air, an airborne sensor detected deep salty water below the valley floor, far from any melt. Signals from that tool pointed to groundwater pathways at least three miles (4.8 km's) long, meaning the brine can travel through rock before entering ice. Later work used ice-penetrating radar to trace brine channels inside the glacier itself, across several miles of ice. The maps helped explain why outflow can appear at one crack while other brine slips quietly into the lake.

Measurements also showed that the closer the water gets to the waterfall, the higher the concentration of iron-rich brine becomes. A relationship between water temperature and salt content was also identified. Cracks of varying sizes in the ice act as channels through which the brine rises, melts ice and becomes further concentrated. Deep in the brine, microbes survived on iron and sulfur chemistry, even after long isolation under ice. Instead of breathing oxygen, many of them likely used dissolved minerals as fuel, which keeps the system alive in darkness. Geologists estimate the reservoir became trapped between three and five million years ago, making it one of the valley’s oldest liquids. Strict rules limit access and keep most sampling tightly controlled, since outsiders can contaminate such a closed habitat. Blood Falls now looks less like a strange stain and more like a pressure release point linking ice, rock and lake. Future field seasons may add wider sensor networks, and LSU could then test whether warming trends change how often the system vents. The Taylor Glacier is thus considered the coldest known glacier on Earth in which water flows permanently. What looks like a bloody fissure in the ice is, in reality, a fascinating example of how complex and dynamic even the most extreme regions of our planet can be.

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