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Google Acquiring 'Makani Power' for Energy Efficiency
Green Technology Featured Articles
May 24, 2013

Google Acquiring 'Makani Power' for Energy Efficiency

By Nicole Spector
Contributing Writer

Too much is never enough for the company on top of the world and intent to stay that way. Google (News - Alert) is in the midst of acquiring yet another startup, and this time it’s Makani Power – a company specializing in building power-generated cable-tethered flying wings, CNET reports.


Google is looking to leverage Makani Power's technology within its Google X “moonshots” section. Google X is among the company's most under-the-radar divisions – it is a cutting edge research lab. This is where theories go to die and be born, Google style.

Businessweek announced the acquisition last Wednesday in a profile about Google X.

Google executives are hopeful that Google X will not just produce pioneering technology, but make a commercial splash with its innovations.

Google touched upon the acquisition on its website, stating, “We look forward to working with our new colleagues at Google [X] to make airborne wind a cost-effective reality. This formalizes a long and productive relationship between our two companies, and will provide Makani with the resources to accelerate our work to make wind energy cost competitive with fossil fuels.”

The Silicon Valley mega company is, as one may imagine, a user of large amounts of power, and has been investigating ways to address both its own energy-sucking practices, and the rest of the industry's. Google is focusing on investments, efficiency and purchase agreements in a big way, so the Makani deal makes perfect sense.

Makani Power is looking to solve energy-generation problems with self-piloting flying wings tethered to a base station. They take off like helicopters using rotors that become electrical power generators when the wing reaches an altitude somewhere between 800 and 2,000 feet.

The wing flies in vertical circles much like a kite. It achieves motion at high and consistent wind speeds, and when wind speeds drop, the wing goes back into a hover mode and returns to its base station.

So far, Makani has tested a kite that can generate 30 kilowatts of power, but that is just for starters. The company anticipates building production models that can create 600 kilowatts.

That's far less than a wind turbine tower, which can generate up to 3,000 kilowatts, but Makani's technology requires far less materials and resources to construct.




Edited by Alisen Downey


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