One of the things you'll hear critics of renewable energy often say is that the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. But of course we know that isn't the case. If you go high enough from the earth's surface, the sun never stops shining and though no one has seen it, the wind is always blowing. We've talked about beaming the solar energy to earth before and we have even shown you this particular wind-powered energy producer before. At the time, some commented it would never fly but the maker of the Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS) has survived long enough to see it happen.

The blimp, technically called an aerostat, recently underwent its initial inflation trials at the facilities of premiere airship builder, TCOM, and was then taken to Virginia to be demonstrated for the CIA a customer. Magenn believes their balloon will be perfect for remote electricity generation at a competitive price and have plans to sail their device at four different locations in the next year.

[Source: The Daily Advance]

Yesterday, we ran a little story on a new project in Japan to beam laser power down to earth. The laser is actually powered by solar rays and could be used to capture electricity. Thanks to Domenick, one of our readers, we can show you another possible way to generate electricity remotely, pretty much anywhere, and without needing much of an infrastructure. Magenn Power's MARS Wind Power Anywhere™ solution "is a lighter-than-air tethered wind turbine" which can be deployed anywhere that wind is present. The generator looks kind of like a big weather balloon and is filled with helium. As the device spins, electricity is generated and sent down a cable which tethers the machine to the ground, where the power can then be stored. I would expect that this technology will be ready for public consumption way before any lasers of energy are beamed down to earth.

Related:

• Beam down the solar power, Scotty!

[Source: Magenn, thanks Domenick]