Wind power is a proven renewable energy source with a track record that goes back centuries. Yet some ecologically myopic people hate the sight of them. Enterprising inventors offer a solution: Take wind power to the skies!

Sky WindPower of San Diego wants to loft a device that would use four rotors to keep its 1,100-pound bulk in the air, with enough energy left over to transmit to the ground via cables. Imagine whole clusters of them lifting off like helicopers to form airborne wind farms — in restricted airspace, of course. Magenn Power of Canada envisions a bulkier, helium-filled generator that rotates around a horizontal axis. It's lighter, so it would work at lower altitudes and air speeds. And Dutch scientists offer the Laddermill, a string of kitewings that rotate in a loop.

Whether they'll work safely outside the world of the imagination remains to be seen. But maybe adding beauty to the equation would make wind power more palatable. In any form, it sure beats sitting in the dark. — Al Boline

Sky WindPower, Magenn Power and Delfft University of Technology, via inhabitat

See more pictures of how the concept would work by following the link below.