Directory:Makani Power, Inc. High Altitude Wind Harvesting

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"Makani Power is seeking to harness high-altitude wind energy to produce energy at an unsubsidized real cost significantly below that of the least expensive coal-fired power plants, the current benchmark of the lowest cost source of power." (Vision statement)

The company's partnership with Google is likely to give them the capital and credibility nudge required to realize their objective. Makani doesn't give out hardly any information about the technology, apparently because they prefer to understate and over deliver, rather than the other way, which so often is the case in the renewable energy sector.

High altitude wind (twice as high as birds fly) is available everywhere on the planet, is decentralized, and eliminates the need to ship fuel around the globe.

Mah Kah Nee : ma-ka-ni is a Hawaiian word meaning wind or breeze.

About

Official Website

http://www.makanipower.com

Vision

Team

Job Opportunities

Official Partners

http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/makani.pdf

How it Works

"Makani is designing membrane structures to cover large areas of the sky efficiently and cost effectively. The average wind energy at high altitudes appears to be more than 10 times greater than at a well-sited terrestrial wind turbine." http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/makani.pdf

Image:Makani high-altitude wind-power 425 bf8.gif

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High-altitude wind is also much more dependable than terrestrial wind.

Image:Makani high-altitude wind-dependability 450 bf16.gif

"Along with solar, wind represents the only renewable source of energy that is substantially larger than the world's current energy needs. Moreover, of all of the renewable energy technologies (wind, solar, tidal, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal), high-altitude wind has the largest energy per square foot. Capturing a small fraction of the global high-altitude wind energy flux could be sufficient to supply the current energy needs of the globe. Makani is developing high-altitude wind energy extraction technologies aimed at the most powerful wind resources." http://www.makanipower.com/vision.html

Videos

Saul Griffith, President & Chief Scientist, Makani Power (38 seconds) - Griffith outlines what is needed to grow renewable energy sources and how Makani's high-altitude wind power fits into that. Makani is allied with Google for the search engine's RE "Makani Power"]

Faces of Business 2007: Saul Griffith, wind energy entrepreneur - Asking Saul Griffith about his new high-altitude wind energy project is a textbook lesson in equivocation - albeit for very good reason. The veil of secrecy isn't mischievous. It's simply that too much "green" technology is over-hyped and underdeveloped. (San Francisco Chronicle Dec 29, 2007)

Two Google efforts - solar thermal and high-altitude wind - ... Alameda startup Makani Power, another Google partner, ... Unlike solar thermal, high-altitude wind power remains more of an engineer's dream ... (San Francisco Chronicle Nov 28, 2007)

Oh, and We Also Saved the World: Google's Energy Plan - "I bumped into Google's plan to change the way we generate electricity and, by doing so, alter for the better both global warming and the balance of world geopolitical power." (PBS October 12, 2007)

Pulpit Poll: "Is Google's investment in Makani Power a selfless act or an attempt to control world energy markets?"

58% said "Selfless act: They'll save money, too, but generally the act is selfless."

42% said "Attempt to control: Like everyone else, Google wants to control the world."

Other Coverage

http://windpower.rain-barrel.net/makani-power/

Comments

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Contact

http://www.makanipower.com/contact.html

Makani Power, Inc.

2175 Monarch Street

Alameda, California 94501

Phone: 415-819-6961 FAX: 510.749.0101

email: [mailto:info@makanipower.com?subject=Makani_featured_at_PESWiki.com info@makanipower.com]

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