Hello Pierre: I disagree that putting a lot of money behind the ducted blimp idea make it a good idea. My analysis remains:
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the cost of building and operating a blimp does not rationalize the amount of power that can be generated, and that
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everything you’re reading with regard to the supposed MW output capabilities of this concept is simply false information.
Whenever you have someone claiming to “beat the betz coefficient”, that is another red flag - Think: “Dave Santos”… It means they know nothing about the subject, as the betz coefficient is based on the entire intercepted area of the device, so funneling more wind thru a small rotor does not increase the Betz coefficient, but actually lowers it, since the bare rotor achieves the highest fraction of the Betz coefficient, and it goes down from there.
By this point, I’m truly surprised that, as one of the only logical minds addressing the concepts of AWE, you can still be fooled this easily! Flashy websites, outlandish claims, and lots of money spent, do not change the basic rules of physics and economics! Remember when Makani had everyone fooled?
How many times do you need to hear the same lies from a hundred sources before you remember the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf? The developers of these devices are, far from cutting edge innovators, unable to discerns a proven bad idea, and instead thinking they can do what is really a bad idea, better! Yes, they are doing “it” better - generating false information rather than the stated output, wasting more money on a project that will lead nowhere!
What truly amazes me is that, after 18 years of debunking endless nonsense, the conversation yet remains at the very lowest elementary school level where the most basic concepts of wind energy remain to be even acknowledged, let alone comprehended, and people are still believing utter nonsense and lies in lieu of simple facts! 