A helium-filled floating turbine tethered to the ground by a 1000-foot cable that transfers the generated energy to the ground ready for immediate use, storage in batteries or re-distribution to the power grid. Given its size and function, we could call this an infrastructural object -or a super-sized gadget- rather than an object that would interest the editors of conventional design magazines. Canadian company Magenn Power sees this floating generator as an advantageous alternative to conventional wind turbines, which are probably beyond the category of objects, even infrastructural objects. One of the reasons why this generator is an object more than a piece of infrastructure is the fact that, unlike wind turbines, it was designed to be mobile and easily change location. Designed to float at altitudes of 600 to 1,000 feet and take advantage of nocturnal jet streams that exist almost everywhere, this generator is easily deployable and could be easily deflated and redeployed without the need of cranes or any other heavy machinery. This condition makes this product especially important for developing nations with deficient or no infrastructure, as well as disaster areas in need of emergency energy-generating equipment. The official copy is politically correct and stresses how this product is bird and bat friendly and has low noise emissions. But the main benefit of a large floating balloon could be as an urban identifier, a marker that could be perceived at long distance and thus help reveal specific urban features.
