Since the early 1900s, the world’s reliance on fossil fuels has steadily increased. Each year, nearly 15 billion metric tons of fossil fuels are consumed. Not only has this consumption been proven harmful to the environment, but fossil fuel availability will eventually run out. The oil crisis of the 1970s forced the world to start looking into alternative energy sources as a viable option, a trend that is more popular now than ever. Renewable energy, like solar and wind power, is a limitless and environmentally clean way of providing power on both small and large scales. The International Energy Agency revealed that by 2022, 26% of global power generation was sourced through renewable energy programs, a number that they expect to increase to 36% by 2027.

In 1839, French physicist Edmond Becquerel first observed the photovoltaic effect—the generation of electrical current when an object is exposed to light. Edmond’s notes may have been the catalyst for solar energy; however, it took more than a century before reliable solar panels began to be developed. On the other hand, humans have been using the power of wind as far back as 6,000-5,000 B.C. to propel sailboats. During the 7th century, the first practical windmills were built in Persia to draw water or grind grain. By the 11th century, knowledge of windmills spread to Europe.

Then, in 1883, Austrian engineer Josef Friedländer introduced to the world the first electricity-producing wind turbine at the Vienna International Electrical Exhibition, the Halladay Windmill. From there, the concept of harnessing electrical power from readily available wind continued to grow, eventually leading to the development of hundreds of thousands of large wind turbines making up renewable energy-producing wind farms both on land and offshore around the world. In May 2024, a Lecturer in Flight Dynamics and Control from the University of Bristol in the UK announced a future vision for wind farms utilizing drone technology.

Dr. Duc Nguyen of the University of Bristol’s School of Civil, Aerospace, and Design Engineering was awarded a £375,000 grant from Innovate UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to help the UK reach its net-zero emissions goal by harnessing renewable wind energy with drones rather than giant wind turbines. Dr. Nguyen’s program is called Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES). In a press release from the University of Bristol, they explain that “By tethering a drone to a ground station, AWES harvests wind power at higher altitudes than conventional wind turbines. The high wind pulls the drone away from the ground station, driving the generator and producing electricity.”

Dr. Nguyen says there is still a lot of work to be done before drones can be used as wind turbines, which is why he and his collaborators are grateful for the grant. It is not as simple as attaching a drone to a tether and sending it up into the air. For starters, multiple drones would be needed to create an energy grid. These drones would need to reach altitudes where the wind is strong enough to translate into usable energy. This means the drones would have to withstand flight operations under harsh conditions while avoiding collisions. The drones would also need to autonomously fly intricate patterns in response to wind phases.

Using numerical bifurcation methods, Dr. Nguyen hopes to make the necessary adjustments that would allow AWES to become a reality. When successful, Dr. Nguyen predicts that AWES could generate €70 billion worth of electricity annually by the year 2050. Thomas Hårklau, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kitemill, and one of Dr. Nguyen’s collaborators, said, “The initiation and successful funding of this AWES project is an important development in the renewable energy sector. AWES technology, with its exceptional material efficiency and higher energy yields, has the potential to become a dominant force in the energy industry.”

Though renewable energy sources have become more readily available, the majority of the world still depends on fossil fuels. As these resources dwindle and global warming effects increase, it is more important than ever to begin a global switch to more substantial, cleaner energy sources. In a paper published in the June 2009 issue of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, authors Annette Evans, Vladimir Strezov, and Tim J. Evans shared that wind power had the “lowest relative greenhouse gas emissions, the least water consumption demands, and the most favorable social impacts.” As we face the challenges of climate change and dwindling fossil fuel reserves, embracing cleaner energy sources becomes not just an option, but a necessity for a sustainable future.

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