Wind

A video from Altaeros Energies shows a novel vision for powering remote locations.

The wind energy startup released a video this week of its prototype airborne wind turbine during its first test run in Maine earlier this year. The donut-shaped blimp has a spinning fan at its center, and it's tethered to a base station by cables that carry electricity from the blimp to the local grid.

The turbine is designed for remote villages or industrial sites where there isn't grid power and for places such as military outposts that need to rely on diesel generators.

With the … Read more

As the Cleveland Indians play their home games, an experiment in industrial design will be spinning just overhead.

The ball park is hosting a wind turbine that uses a helix-shape tower to squeeze more power out of conventional wind turbines. The structure increases the wind speed, a technique companies have long pursued to lower the cost of wind energy.

The Progressive Field installation is a prototype designed by Majid Rashidi, a professor at Cleveland State University. The 40-foot-high, 18-foot-wide helix turbine will be installed for a year for testing and is expected to generate 40,000 kilowatt-hours a year, or … Read more

Startup Altaeros Energy is going up for more energy.

The company yesterday said it has successfully tested a prototype of its airborne wind turbine, which is a traditional small wind turbine enclosed in an inflatable shell. The Boston-based company is seeking to partner with others to build and test a commercial-scale turbine.

Altaeros Energy is one of a few companies developing systems to capture the stronger and steadier winds at high altitudes. Others include Makani Power, Joby Energy, and Windlift.

For its prototype test in Maine, Altaeros Energy placed a Southwest Skystream turbine, which is normally placed on a pole, … Read more

It's a flying wing, a power generator, and a robot.

Startup Makani Power is developing a wind turbine that's a big break from convention. If it works, it could slash the cost of wind power, particularly offshore.

The company has nearly finished testing flights for a 30-kilowatt prototype turbine and will soon begin work on a larger, commercial-scale system, according to CEO Corwin Hardham. The goal is to complete development and testing that full-scale, 600-kilowatt system by 2016, he said.

Makani Power, which was originally funded by Google and later by the Department of Energy's ARPA-E agency, … Read more

There is a dearth of tech products that can also double as accessories for fictional serial killers. If Hannibal Lecter was as into jogging as he was into human consumption, he would have definitely been sporting the Aire mask to power his iPod.

The idea behind the mask it that your breath charges your small electronics. The mask contains small wind turbines that convert your huffing and puffing into renewable power.… Read more

In the old days, renewable energy was the best option available. Then it became a social statement. Now with fits and starts, it's creeping toward the mainstream.

To give CNET readers some perspective on renewable energy, we've assembled a slideshow on renewable energy through the ages, its present form, and some ideas as to where it's going.

The history of using the wind, sun, and water reaches back to antiquity. But what's remarkable about many renewable-energy technologies being pursued today--solar, wind, geothermal, and bioenergy--is that today's product ideas often have roots in research begun after … Read more

By building a wind turbine to power a hydrogen production and fueling station, a little hamlet in Long Island is positioning itself as the bellwether for carbon-neutral transportation.

The town of Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island erected a 121-foot-tall turbine last December on the township's Department of Conservation and Waterways land to take advantage of powerful Atlantic winds and power the hydrogen and natural gas fueling station it built in 2009. The turbine can generate up to 180 megawatts of power per year, and presents an estimated hydrogen fuel and energy cost savings of $40,000 per year. … Read more

Even if they haven't installed a solar array in their backyard, a new OnStar program lets Volt drivers recharge their plug-in hybrids with renewable energy.

OnStar is working with electric power systems operator PJM Interconnection to develop technology that could give drivers a choice of the type of electricity used to recharge their Volt. The new system would let drivers establish a renewable energy preference for the Volt and help them use renewably generated electricity to recharge their cars.

PJM monitors the percentage of renewable energy available on the electrical grid, and uploads the forecast to OnStar's cloud. … Read more

JEMEZ PUEBLO, N.M.--American Indian tribes see renewable energy as a way to capitalize on their natural resources.

The Department of Interior last week proposed a rule that would speed up decisions regarding land used for renewable energy projects, many of which have been derailed by bureaucracy. The rule would require decisions within a 60-day limit for business-related leases, such as developing solar and wind projects on Indian land.

"It will require the government to act," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last Monday, according to reports. "The government cannot sit on its hands, as it has … Read more