Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

At Kitekraft develops flying wind turbines, a mixture of drone and kite that requires 10x less construction material while reaching higher altitudes with stronger winds. Our system generates green energy cleaner and cheaper than conventional wind turbines of the same power rating. Kitekraft develops, builds, and operates kite power plants initially in the 100kW to 500kW range with upscaling to 3MW, 5MW+, for both grid-scale energy production and off-grid applications. Currently there are hardly any economically viable wind turbines below 2MW, leaving a huge gap in deployment for smaller projects like on islands, microgrids, or in remote places. Kitekraft was founded in 2019 out of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) based on prior research done by the team with the goal to bring to market and commercialize the technology. The team met at TUM and through the Munich startup network and have worked together since.

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How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

Replaces/avoids GHGs (e.g., projects that replace sources of GHGs, such as the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat, transport, or other energy uses)

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Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

Our technology inherently does not empower any specific group within the climate movement. Due to our technologies effects and our business practices we do intend to have an impact though. Building a more affordable, more widely applicable wind power solution will lead to a faster adoption and implementation of renewable energies in places far away from where conventional wind turbines are currently being built. This is key as energy is one of key drivers for economic development and livelihood improvement. Being able to operate in remote locations, on islands, or on a temporary basis brings renewable power to more people. Through our business practices we strive to build an inclusive work place that creates equal opportunities for everybody and help people of underrepresented groups succeed. Please also refer to our code of conduct: https://www.kitekraft.de/vacancies#code-of-conduct

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Mission Statement:

We are a startup with US-Germany structure (Kitekraft Inc. and Kitekraft GmbH, the later is a 100% subsidiary of the former). Our company headquarter is in Munich, Germany, and our current development is done in Germany and Europe. Initial customers will also be in Germany but our technology as the potential for global adoption giving the right wind conditions. Especially early systems in the 100kW to 500kW range are meant for islands grids, microgrids or remote sites, these use cases are typically found in the global south.

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