The debate surrounding wind energy has found new life as more and more designs for airborne turbines flood the markets. On the surface, the idea is rather ingenious. The designs eliminate the need to construct costly towers, and the noise complaints that plague many wind farm projects can be eliminated. In theory, we can certainly construct these kind of generators. The technology is more than sufficient to accomplish the job. The real question, however, is whether or not these designs are feasible when it comes to rolling them out on a wide scale.Didn’t catch that? This explains it. The annoying little facts about production costs and true effectiveness must come under consideration.

The current estimates predict that the majority of airborne wind turbines will be able to provide electricity at rates as low as 0.01 per kWh. This price is much lower than any other form of wind power currently in use, providing the production costs for the hardware a much higher ceiling when it comes to cost-benefit analysis. The altitudes at which these machines are to be placed provide plenty of strong winds. However, the actual ability of these turbines to stay aloft when there is not enough wind raises concerns. When they experience a lack of atmospheric lift, the turbines must then begin consuming power in order to stay in the air. Although the technology seems to have great potential, practical concerns such as these may limit the geographic regions where it can be implemented.