If we can generate energy from wind turbines on the ground, imagine what we could generate with a flying turbine in the sky.
Shepard describes the invention as half-windmill and half-kite. He credits his late father, David, for its creation.
“Just five miles above us there is energy far more than we need to power the whole world,” Shepard said in the interview.
As opposed to winds on the surface that ground-based wind generators use, the aim of the flying generator is to be between 5,000 and 10,000 feet to capture strong winds aloft.
With enough generators in the sky, Shepard said, “They would generate three times as much as the biggest nuclear facility in the United States currently does.”
Photo by Sky WindPower Corporation