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This is a follow up to the reports of a kite power collection system developed in the Netherlands and implemented in Ireland.
I attempted to find citations about parents in the US Patent Office web site, but a simple search using kite and power produced too many citations. I then tried advanced search with "wind and power and kite" but still got too many citations. This system ** must ** be patented, but it may be patented in Europe, with parents in the US later.
In any case, it is going to take more than my first attempts to find patents that must have been filed on this system. Too much money has been invested for the case to be otherwise.
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This post is inspired by one of Void's topics: https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=11189
In the new topic, Void reported on discovery of electricity produced by bending ice.
In the context of ** this ** topic about wind, and specifically the report of kites used to generate electricity in Ireland, it occurred to me that trees flex in the wind, and perhaps there is a way to capture electric current from that motion.
To take the kite example... The kites (apparently) present a broad surface to the wind when they are pulling on the generator cable, and they present a thin face to the wind when they are being pulled back to the start position. An artificial "tree" might be fitted with vanes that operate in a similar way, so that they are broad to the wind for the outward excursion, and rotated to be thin for the spring action return.
Power would be collected (somehow) on the outward excursion.
Artificial "trees" like this could be deployed in the path of hurricanes, so that energy might be collected when the supply of wind is abundant.
No doubt rotary windmills of various kinds could be deployed in a similar fashion, if they can be designed to withstand hurricane winds.
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We received another monthly report from Airloom...
All these reports are accompanied by images showing equipment or charts.
If a NewMars reader is interested in seeing the images, it might be possible to request your own copy of the monthly report from info@airloom.energy
Monthly Update from Airloom Energy - September 2025
InboxAirloom Energy <info@airloom.energy> Unsubscribe
Sep 19, 2025, 9:04PM (11 hours ago)header_2
Friends of Airloom,It’s been a busy summer for the Airloom team! While we’ve taken some time to be with family and friends, we’ve also continued the momentum on pilot site development, building coalitions, exploring our go-to-market pathways, and nearing a close on our seed extension.
$780 billion for renewables in 2025 (IEA)
Before we get to a new quick-hits format below, let’s take a look at the bigger picture for renewables – because HR1 (aka, OBBBA) isn’t the end of the story for wind.While the administration continues to impose U.S. clean energy setbacks – from stop work orders, to new land use restrictions, to lost government incentives – the global reality is that demand for wind and solar is still exceptionally high: an estimated $780 billion is poised for investment in renewables in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency.
That’s $20 billion more than in 2024, and it’s part of $2.2 trillion to be invested in clean energy globally, double the $1.1 trillion predicted for fossil fuels.
IEA energy investment chart
Image: Global energy investment figures from a 2025 International Energy Agency report.The U.S. is just one very thin slice of the worldwide industry pie, and we’ve been seeing this reality play out in Airloom’s day-to-day — for our seed extension, in our conversations with hyperscalers and data center infrastructure energy developers, and in the interest that continues to roll in from Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Chile, and Norway.
Despite the funky market dynamics at home, Airloom remains on track to achieve our seed milestones: a validated power curve, capex estimates, and customer traction. Maintaining diligence in these areas will set us up for selling megawatts in 2026.
? September Snapshot
Highlights
– Pilot site survey is complete, foundation locations are marked ahead of pouring next month
– An in-depth Airloom explainer article from Interesting Engineering
– A byline from Neal published in North American Clean EnergyBumps in the Road
– Administration-wide efforts to block wind projects
– Airloom was not selected for the two SBIR Phase IIs we submitted in August. Phase II’s have become more competitive, with more applicants, over the past several cycles. Will apply again when the next round is announced
– Behind schedule on pilot site commissioning. Completion now anticipated in November (previously October).mark-1
Commercial Update
We’re continuing to make progress in three pathways to commercialization:Hyperscalers: Conversations with potential partners continues, they are in a technical due diligence. We’re looking for intros to Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, and Oracle, if you have any contacts here and are open to making a call, please reply to this email.
Data center energy infrastructure developers: We’re now speaking to three different developers who are interested in being part of our 2027 commercial demos.
Department of Defense interest: Airloom’s existing partnership with U.S. Air Force and Space Force has been recently expanded to now include new connections with U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and the Contested Logistics Cross Functional Team (CL CFT). These represent multiple avenues for collaboration with the DoD, and we expect it to remain a strong path toward revenue-generating projects.
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Pilot Site Report
Last month, we showed you the progress on our control station, access road, and laydown parking at the Airloom pilot site in Rock River, WY. Since then, we’ve completed a survey and site layout, defining where we'll be installing the Airloom stadium-shaped track ?We’re also planning to mobilize the foundation contractor at the end of this month. We’re using drilled caissons with tower base imbeds. The tower prep is taking place at the Laramie shop with assembly planning underway.
The team is aiming for completion of the stadium structure by November 15, which is the recommended date to finish this work to avoid disruption of seasonal wildlife migration, according to our friends at the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.
Trade-offs and adjustments like these are super exciting for the Airloom team, as it means we’re integrating critical pieces of what system deployments will look like as we scale to future sites.
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Technical Progress
After several months of testing with Test Stand D, Test Stand B, and now Test Stand A - the test stands have all been consolidated into the final testing location. This is a great milestone for the team that demonstrates the operations of these machines in a safe and controlled manner, confirming the mechanical, electrical, and software performance required for the pilot program.As a quick review, we plan to move the electrical drives, brake electronics, load banks, and generators from the test stands to the pilot site and use them for the pilot hardware. The test stands allow the team to run the machines with the same hardware that we plan to use at the pilot site.
Airloom sept update, img1
Figure: All three Airloom test stands within the final testing locationAll three test stands are commissioned (ready to operate) and Test Stand A is going through its test plan from low to high power and various tensions in the belt. So far, the team has successfully run 37.5kW at the motor input, which is 150kW divided by 4 generators, and achieved multiple successful 8hr (one shift) runs at 100%, 50% and 25% expected tension.
Below is a screenshot from the operator station tracking power in/out, tensions in the three belts, as well as temperature at select locations, and a belt sensor that stops the test if the belt fails. The output of this test showed the entire system had high efficiency at 100% tension and max power. It should be noted that for the 50% and 25% tension cases the belt’s efficiency did not change significantly.
Test Stand D motor/generator efficiencies resulted in 95.1% efficiency at this power and speed setting, as well as the friction from the 42” idler belt assembly. The team was able to back out the efficiency of the belt at 92%. This is a very important milestone for the team, as this shows us how much of the power is transferred through the system, and reinforces our initial belt efficiency estimates at 96% efficiency (which were based on discussions with several belt companies’ technical teams’ estimates). This result will be used to update our simulation for power output from the system.
The next set of tests will focus on a slightly higher power input to the motor at 50kW, which is what we’ll see at the pilot site. Since we know the efficiency of the system, this allows for 37.5kW output from the generator side of Test Stand A. Initial testing shows very similar efficiencies, but we will run these tests to completion before drawing any official results to be used in our simulation.
Airloom sept update, img2
Figure: Test Stand A operations stationExternally from the Test Stand recording the team has a calibrated sound measurement device that logs the sound recorded within 15ft of Test Stand A running. The image below on the left is the calibrated sound measurement while the image on the right is an uncalibrated measurement application that also logs the peak frequency output.
Screenshot 2025-09-18 10.33.11 AM
Figure: Noise measurements.(left = calibrated instrument, right = phone app w/ frequencies shown, not calibrated)
After the 8hr tests are completed, the test plan calls for visual inspections and thermal inspections. Below are examples of thermal inspection results showing (1) 65mm bearings and (2) belt thermal equilibrium after 8hr in a 27C-31C (morning vs. afternoon) ambient temperature. Good news – the results below [125F = 51.6C (left) and 105F = 40.6C (right)] are within acceptable limits for the parts selected for the Test Stand A and for the pilot project.
Screenshot 2025-09-18 10.36.37 AM
Figure: Thermal results from 65mm bearings and belt after 8hr continuous testingSince the last update, we have also received the first 26m, 220mm wide belts that we plan to use on the pilot. Thus far, we’ve only had smaller sections of belts to test, so these longer sections are being tested at a representative tension for the pilot system and measured the sag at 5 inches, as well as the dampening characteristics of a belt of this size, weight, shape and stiffness.
Below are a few images of that video clip where we are beginning to understand the dynamic characteristics of belts of this size. This early stage test was largely exploratory to get a general feel of the belt before actually installing for a proper pilot system test, but the measured sag and dampening characteristics gave the design team new insight: while we have rollers on the curves, we should also now incorporate a few rollers that can be positioned along the straight sections of Airloom’s stadium-shaped track.
These should be modified from their curve-roller counterparts to have bottom rollers that minimize dynamic motion (in the direction of sky/nadir). We’re adding these new roller types to our list of flexible hardware that can be added if needed during the testing phase of the pilot project. This may add schedule and cost that were accounted for in the end of the track rollers, but not for the sag characteristics of the belt, which depends on the number of travelers (driven by budget constraints).
Screenshot 2025-09-18 10.40.52 AM
Figure: Belt sag and tensioned belt dampening characteristic testingIn the previous update the team included initial tensile test results for the belt pin splice. Since that update, the team has designed a mechanical attachment that spreads the loads from the traveler to the belt, utilizing the pins from the previous update as the main interface. This work will help us control the belt on the pilot system. The CAD image of that design is shown below.
Screenshot 2025-09-18 10.42.29 AM
Figure: CAD model of splice + chain assemblyThe team has since produced the chain link assembly and is in the process of cutting a new belt to test it in tensile before it is shipped off to be tested in Test Stand B and then Test Stand A (two different spliced belt test articles). Below is a clear view of the chain link assembly showing a straight configuration (top) and then a curved configuration (bottom) to allow for the belt to curve around the rollers on the curved section of the track.
Screenshot 2025-09-18 10.43.48 AM
Figure: Straight and Curved states of the chain in the belt splice? Airloom's Fundamental Truths, Part 1
Last month, we shared the list of Airloom’s 10 fundamental truths that guide every design and manufacturing decision. Today, we’re spotlighting the first one, which shows up in our culture and operations everywhere from weekly team meetings to physical designs to customer project planning.
Simplicity Drives Reliability and Scale
Our team’s decades of experience in energy and tech have taught us that the simplest system that gets the job done will be the easiest to manufacture, deploy, operate, and maintain at scale. Unnecessary complexity—like active controls, sensors, or bespoke parts—decreases reliability and increases failure points.
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Upcoming Priorities
▶️ What's NextNext week, we’ll be on the ground for New York Climate Week, with an exhibit at the New Lab’s New Climate Futures event on Thursday, Sept. 25. Register to attend and say hello to Neal!
In the meantime, we’ll continue to work toward closing our seed extension before STRATFI applications are due on October 3. Everything else on the horizon:
Considering 2026 construction kickoff for our 2027 Commercial Demo, to ensure we qualify for ITC/PTC
Getting to commercial terms with our pilot customer
Sub-system testing, continued — this remains a key de-risking step before full system integration
Critical Design Review
Awaiting selection decisions for SXSW 2026
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On the Calendar
September 22-26: New York Climate Week, exhibiting at Newlab’s New Climate Futures event on Sept. 25.
October 11: Energy Day: Cowboy Football, University of Wyoming
October 13: Rotary Club Presentation in Casper, Wyoming
October 14: City of Laramie Council Work Session Presentation (Wyoming)
October 16: Wyoming Global Tech Summit
October 28-30: Verge25 in San Jose, CA
November 6: Defense Tech and Dual Use Conference, San Francisco, CA
November 16-17: TEDxBoston Planet Action 2025Keep up with us between now and our next newsletter by following our LinkedIn!
Thank you, as always, for your support of the Airloom mission. See you again in October.
—Team Airloom
The next era of resilient energy
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if the images are important upload them to the php3 site
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For SpaceNut re #29
Thanks for the encouragement to try to find a way for our readers to see the pictures!
I wrote to Airloom to ask about possible access to the emails from the web site:
Hello!
First, thank you for sending your monthly updates to newmarsmember@gmail.com.
I am a (Junior) moderator for newmars.com. We are an affiliate of the Mars Society, Dr. Robert Zubrin founder, and James Burk,Executive Director.
I publish a screen scrape of the text of the email in a topic about wind energy capture.
Our forum is unable to print pictures included in an email. The forum ** can ** show pictures, if they are linked correctly, using BBCode links.
Second:
We got an inquiry today from a reader wanting to see the pictures that go with the email. I went to your web site and do not see a way to pull up the monthly report there.
If you ** do ** provide a way for my readers to access the email from your web site, please let me know and I'll publish the information.
Third:
Best wishes for success with your venture! It occurred to me that Ireland may be a useful site for you to investigate for a test site. We published a report of an innovative kite based wind energy collection system recently. My recollection is that the inventors are based in The Netherlands, and they chose Ireland for a successful demo because of the steady winds there.
Fourth:
In thinking about good locations for your system, it occurred to me that weather must be a problem for all wind devices... I have missed any discussion about ice accumulation on the metal blades of your system, so hope you will include a brief discussion of how weather will affect your system.
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