Floating Turbines to Quell Opposition

wave power has higher density, but needs to be a lot stronger than wind machines, but has good power potential and is more easily hidden.

There are other ways of producing electrical energy from the sea and rivers, however, my designs are worth a considerable sum as are the generator outputs!

The problem is as small as the human mind is vastly capable of.

there is no reason that it would not work. In fact you can make an aluminium smelter and moor it in the 'roaring 40's' and have year round wind to power it. Just add generators and blades to the platforms as they have done on oil rigs and sailing vessels for 50 years. Such an operation does not need to be close to land for power cabling to the land, just convenient to bulk alumina. Solid aluminum is valuable enough to be worth shipping anywhere. Lots of designe potential in there. Sadly, zero patent potential, as it has all been done before

As for assembly, a ship made for the task would be better. Let us say you had 400 turbines and cables to land to deploy. Making 400 in a yard and then sailing 400 times out to the destination in these windy areas would be a chore. Remember these turbines will all be less than 50 yards apart to minimize cabling and will be across the prevailing wind(but will also swivel). Depending on the wind, you can make parallel rows possibly 100-200 meters apart as long as they will not form a collective windbreak

The assorted turbine components can be stored in knocked down form on the ship and assembled one at a time and attached to the flotation mechanism and the mooring weights and cable and power cable deployed (to a common central point and thence transformed to high voltage for undersea transmission to the shore). I feel that would be cheaper than towing.

"offshore" windfarms; will,unfourtuantly,reveal several weakness's 1/they will be marine haszards to shipping(especially casual cruse ships,and older "tramp steamers") and2/be prime targets for every "rouge iceberg and/or wave" that comes along!. very expensive repair and maintenance, especlly for getting hivoltage power back to land grids?!. if anyone is interested; there is a way to make good use of the "manmade", granite mountains, in our "concrete jungles". using a windpower blade science has been "playing around with", for a century or so??. virtually horizontal/and therefore, "outof site/mind". it only needs a 5-10 mph breeze to crank out power, almost directly to the consumers,"downstairs and/or nextdoor!!". it would be "wayup outasite", in noone's backyard; and with "free electricity"(billing simaler to cell phone service, monthly accesss fee and ?Khrs free volts, per day,week, or month!!) i don't think many would protest this smog reducing method(sept electric co's and their coal suppliers). bigg "propellerblades", may be fading away gang.. with hopes for our future, chukfinn

well, that is partly why I suggest the Aluminum smelter for far off windy seas. Other power intense applications could justify this as well.

Probably need to site them no more than 200 miles from land so HV transmission is feasible. I know you can transmit for 600-1000 miles with super high voltage lines in air, but I think this tech is not yet capable of high pressure salt water immersion.

Places where fish trawlers pass need to be avoided as well. There are enormous stretched of remote ocean where there are few storms yet have sustained winds where factory platforms could be sited. One could even make a large floating platform a few miles square with cruise ship docks and an airstrip so that the power can be used for diverse applications.

You could make a Hong Kong style floating free port quite viable. After all, look at Singapore. There would be a high first cost to make these large hollow floating blocks which could be all the same and you create the platform and extend it by adding more as time goes by.

How can I contact professor Paul D Sclanounus?

His contact info is right in the article:

http://www.me.mit.edu/people/personal/pauls.htm