Will All World Energy Needs Be Satisfied?

Could the global demand for electricity be satisfied with a single power generation and distribution system? A team of scientists from Russia believes this may be possible, using technology now a century old.

At the start of the 20th century, famed inventor Nikola Tesla designed and built the first Tesla Tower. This futuristic spire was intended as a test of a system to deliver electricity worldwide.

Construction of the Wardenclyffe Tower was completed in 1917. Despite several tests, the 187-foot tower, constructed of wood and copper, could not transmit electricity as needed. It was soon torn down.

Now, a group of engineers has re-designed the tower, using modern materials and electronic components. After five years of research, they believe their version of the Tesla Tower could provide electricity to locations around the globe.

Leonid and Sergey Plekhanov, a pair of brothers who graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, are behind the plan. The pair examined Tesla’s original plan, and the design of the original tower. They believe their team has found a way to make the idea work, using modern technology and construction techniques. Tesla’s original tower weighed more than 60 tons. The new design will weigh just two tons.

The project will cost around $800,000. To raise these funds, the Plekhanovs have started a crowdfunding campaign on Indygogo.

The brothers wrote, “We will be able to get the first results in a few months after the completion of the tower and we are really in need for substantial financial support due to the large scale of this research program.”

According to designers, the generation of electrical current could be generated by a single solar panel 200 miles on a side. This would be or 40,000 square miles in area, and located in a desert, near the equator. This facility could prove to be a major stumbling block to development. At current costs, the construction of such a panel would cost over 20 trillion dollars.

Construction of the tower itself could begin this fall.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/let-s-build-a-planetary-energy-transmitter

http://rt.com/news/170468-tesla-tower-rebuild-project

http://www.ibtimes.com/russian-scientists-revive-nikola-teslas-designs-help-

crowdfunding-1612612

http://inhabitat.com/russian-physicists-launch-campaign-to-rebuild-teslas-wardenclyffe-tower-and-power-the-world/plekhanovs

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nikola-teslas-planetary-energy-transmitter-2986752.html