After Highflyer Crashes, Airborne Wind Energy Regroups

摘要

In January 2020,a rumor from California in the United States reached researchers and entrepreneurs in Europe,a thriving hub for the small mostly trans-Atiantic field of engineering researdhand development called airborne wind energy(AWE):Alphabet,American tednology giant Google''s parent company,was quietlyclosing down Makani,the AWE subsidiary it had nurtured into theworld''s most advanced,visible,and well-funded enterprise designing and building tethered flying madhines-kites in AWE parlance-intended ultimately to produce megawatts of wind energy.