Makani is the Bay Area startup, backed previously by both Google and the government through the ARPA-E program, that’s been pursuing an airborne wind turbine concept that uses a tethered airplane-like design.

image via Makani Power

Wild as the whole idea of getting wind power from 1,000 or so feet up in the air might sound, Makani isn’t the only player in the field; among others is Altaeros Energies, a company formed out of MIT that sends turbines skyward using a helium-filled, inflatable shell that looks like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float.

On its website, Makani said the deal with Google “formalizes a long and productive relationship between our two companies, and will provide Makani with the resources to accelerate our work to make wind energy cost competitive with fossil fuels.”

The company added that “(t)he timing couldn’t be better, as we completed the first ever autonomous all-modes flight with our Wing 7 prototype last week.” And here’s video of the tethered wing in action (note that the film is a compilation of several test runs):

The lure of higher-altitude wind power is simple: stronger, more consistent winds. Plus, Makani says that complex as its system appears, “It eliminates 90 percent of the material used in conventional wind turbines, and can access winds both at higher altitudes and above deep waters offshore.”

Sounds great. Now we might see if that lovely idea can be translated into real commercial use.

Now, two companies have announced a merger that will create a massive community of plug-in drivers and illuminate the growing network of stations all over the world. Xatori, maker of the most downloaded EV app PlugShare (and GreenCharge, the EV charge monitor) has joined forces with Recargo, a software company that provides social driving tools that support the adoption and growth of plug-in mobility.

Image via PlugShare

Both Recargo and Xatori have seen tremendous growth in 2013, doubling membership across their EV charging community properties including their charging locator apps, the Recargo Station Finder, and PlugShare.

The company created by the merger will bring these apps together into a single, comprehensive directory of over 20,000 electric vehicle charging stations under the PlugShare brand, with more than 30,000 station reviews and 14,000 photos to assist in last mile navigation.

Brian Kariger will remain as CEO of the company, while Forrest North, CEO of Xatori, Inc., will become COO. All current Recargo and Xatori staff are staying on.

“This merger gives us more opportunities to work with larger companies, utilities, automakers, and fleets,” said North. “Best of all, our users will benefit from our combined talents and unified product. The strength and passion of our combined communities will really help accelerate the plug-in revolution.”

The first generation Acura NSX was built in Japan. Honda plans to build the second gen model at its Marysville, Ohio, plant here in the good old U.S. of A. The supercar would be assembled at a new Performance Manufacturing Center located smack dab in the middle of the automaker’s current engineering, R&D and production facilities.

Image courtesy of Honda / Acura

States Hidenobu Iwata, president & CEO of Honda of America, “Thirty years ago, building cars in America was a big dream. Working together, here in Ohio and across North America we turned this dream into reality. The location of this facility is in the midst of one of the greatest collections of engineering and production talent in the world. So it makes sense that we will renew the dream and build this high-tech, supercar in Marysville, Ohio.”

Honda is assembling an all-star staff to man the $70 million, 184,000-square-foot factory. Ted Klaus, chief engineer of Honda R&D Americas, will lead the global team. Responsibility for production, though, falls on the shoulders of Clement D’Souza, associate chief engineer at Honda of America. The automaker guesstimates 100 highly skilled staff will be housed at the new location. Note that while assembly of the Acura NSX will be at Marysville, the potent V-6 engine and Honda’s latest version of its patented Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) system will be assembled nearby at the company’s engine plant in Anna, Ohio.

Specifically, the project for which the firm is being lauded is a group of about 100 houses in the fishing village of Kirinda in Sri Lanka, which was leveled during the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. Using local labor and sourcing materials within a few miles of the village, Shigeru Ban designed a series of simple, sturdy housing units provide much-needed low-cost shelter while also helping to the local economy.

Shigeru Ban’s designs are made to last, using locally sourced materials. Image by Dominic Samsoni via Shigeru Ban Architects.

The prototype two-bedroom house designed by Shigeru Ban has a footprint of about 765 square feet and includes a sheltered courtyard, which is often used for meals and other family gatherings. The one-story structures use walls made of compressed earthen bricks sheathed in wood from locally harvested rubber trees. The pitched roof uses teak and coconut wood that is also sourced nearby.

The new housing units include open spaces for ventilation and separate the kitchen and bathroom areas from the livings spaces. Image by Dominic Samsoni via Shigeru Ban Architects.

In fitting with the Muslim strictures of the region, the house design separates the kitchen and bathroom areas and the living quarters with a covered courtyard area, where the whole family can gather. The courtyard, with its open walls, provide shade and cooling ventilation while also serving as way to divide men from women, as is the local religious and social custom. Portable wooden screens can also be used to provide greater privacy.

The new units are built with compressed earthen blocks and local rubber tree wood. Image by Dominic Samsoni via Shigeru Ban Architects.

The first prototype houses were designed in 2005 and completed in 2007. Local developer Phillip Bay recently told Dezeen magazine that the houses would be a template for the construction of 100 replacement homes in Kirinda. “This was not going to be a traditional disaster relief effort where we go in and make homes really fast and leave,” Bay said in the article. “I wanted to treat this like a development project.”

“This is the first time I’ve worked for the Muslim societies,” said Ban, “so before I built the houses I had a community meeting to find out what has to be carefully done depending on the generation, for example, we had to separate the man’s space and woman’s space.”

Currently, Shigeru Ban is one of 20 firms being considered for the Aga Khan prize. Later this year, five to six finalists will be chosen to compete for the $1 million grand prize.

Over Texas on the 18-hour, 32-minute second leg of the plane’s cross-country adventure, pilot Andre Borschberg “rode the updraft and downdraft of the mountain winds” the Solar Impulse team reported. The plane, which departed Phoenix before dawn Wednesday, landed at DFW at 1:08 a.m. CDT.

Landing at DFW early Thursday morning (image via Solar Impulse)

With a slow-moving craft (average ground speed on this leg: 52 mph) and always-busy skies, this was challenging but the experienced team seemed to take it all in stride:

The flight was a perfect training experience for both the pilot and the team in the Mission Control Center. It has reconfirmed the need to remain flexible and try to request, when possible, permission to fly at different altitudes to local Air Traffic Controllers. Having options can help avoid being stuck in a segment that’s experiencing unique winds – but it’s not always possible due to dense air traffic flying below the solar airplane.

The flight broke Solar Impulse’s own record for flight distance, set last June when Borschberg piloted the plane nearly 700 miles from Payerne, Switzerland, to Madrid.

You folks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will now have a chance to get a gander at the 3,500-pound plane with a 208-foot wingspan at open houses over the next few days. You can make reservations through Eventbrite.

After Dallas, Solar Impulse intends to head to St. Louis, then Washington, D.C., and then finishing up in New York City around the Fourth of July.

Ultimately, Borschberg and fellow pilot Betrand Piccard (he flew the first leg of this trip, and will take the next one, too) hope to circumnavigate the globe in a new Solar Impulse craft, with a bigger, more comfortable cockpit, based on the HB-SIA they are taking across North America after successful flights last year in Europe.

Here’s a video of the Phoenix-Dallas trip and, yes, a cowboy hat will appear:

They said yes to wind – rather loudly.

image via Facebook/Vote No on Question 2

Question 2 on Tuesday’s Falmouth ballot would have authorized the costly “decommissioning, dismantling and removing” of two Vestas 1.65-megawatt wind turbines at the local wastewater treatment plant. The measure failed miserably, with the nays swamping the yeas by a 2-1 margin among the 8,941 ballots cast [PDF].

As far as anyone could tell, this was the first time wind turbines had come up for a public vote like this.

It was a familiar divide: One group backing the removal said the turbines “had resulted in adverse effects on families including health, economic matters, and neighbors’ quality of life”; turbine supporters, meanwhile, said that removing the turbines, at a cost of $14 million, would be a rash reaction to a relatively small number of complaints.

A report [PDF] commissioned by Falmouth’s selectmen said that complaints began to flow “soon after Wind 1 began operations on March 23, 2010,” with neighbors citing “noise, health and safety concerns” (Wind 2 went into operation in February 2012). The report said that 32 to 41 families reported negative health effects, mostly sleep disruption. This in a town with a population of more than 31,000.

The town has attempted to appease the anti-turbine parties by curtailing operations, both during strong wind events and at night, moves critics clearly found unsatisfactory.

On its website, Windwise Massachusetts, which had campaigned against the turbines, said “(t)he lopsided vote on Question 2 in Falmouth on May 21st was sobering.”