Skip to content

The kite engineer striving to revolutionise DIY wind power

Could portable spinning kites offer a greener solution to generating electricity?

Inventor Rod Read has spent more than a decade pioneering “turbine kite” technology on Scotland’s islands.

Gusts of wind rotate lightweight kite blades connected to a ground generator - offering a cheap and portable alternative to traditional static turbines.

Rod builds the “mesmerising” devices by hand using lightweight fabrics. In testing he's been able to charge his electric van with the system.

Video by Morgan Spence

Footage: Windswept and Interesting

8 November 2021

Renewable energy

Explore More

Pudsey the bear with a colourful polkadot bandage over one eye standing with three children in front of a small blue and white plane on the Fair Isle landing strip.

Pudsey flies in to meet children on Fair Isle

NE, Orkney & Shetland

Otter in water in Shetland

️The orphaned otter that is now part of the family

NE, Orkney & Shetland

Gloved hand picking up one of five Lewis chessmen. Two are facing the camera and three away from the camera.

See a brand new view of the Lewis chessmen

Oyster farmer Winston Brown eating an oyster from its shell in white oyster packing plant room.

Shetland oysters back on the market after 130 years

NE, Orkney & Shetland

Explosion during rocket launch test

Moment rocket engine explodes in Shetland

NE, Orkney & Shetland

Bagpiper and ponies

Swiss bagpiper serenades Shetland ponies

NE, Orkney & Shetland

Christine Glaser

'The Viking gene survey helped find my cancer'

NE, Orkney & Shetland

Destroyed home in Iowa

Iowa storms: Razed homes and wrecked wind turbines

SaxaVord Spaceport

Watch: Preparations for Shetland rocket launch

Shetland Viking Wind Farm landslide

Footage shows landslide at Shetland wind farm

NE Scotland, Orkney & Shetland

Clint Leveque has dark hair and wears a black jacket.

Shetland murder charge: My daughter texted me every night

For the first time in history, women and girls took part in the main Viking squad.

Viking galley burns at fiery peak of Up Helly Aa

BBC News

x

Wild swimmers

'Blizzards won't stop us wild swimming'

Banner objecting to wind turbines with the slogan Protect Our Wildlife

Concerns for wildlife as wind farm plans progress

Isle Of Man / Ellan Vannin

A group of women in an outdoor sauna

Scotland’s new wild sauna culture

Weather forecast

When and where high winds will hit Scotland

Turbine blade carried through Hawick, Scottish Borders

Moment giant wind turbine blade carried through town

Burning wind turbine

Giant blade crashes to ground as fire destroys wind turbine

Green turtle

Attenborough series returns to green turtles after 66 years

Science & Environment

BBC Scotland political editor Glenn Campbell lying on the ground with a blue beanie hat and wrapped in a silver blanket

‘I wanted to show what having a seizure was like’

BBC Scotland's political editor Glenn Campbell has been describing his journey since being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour.

Weather presenter Christopher Blanchett standing in front of a large-scale photograph of wintry conditions

Weather forecast: First taste of winter in Scotland

Arctic air has been working its way in from the north, bringing cold temperatures that for the coming days.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn

Flynn: Reaction to 2026 Holyrood bid 'not pleasant'

The SNP Westminster leader will stand for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat

Veterans during Edinburgh's Armistice Day event. One of them is saluting while the other have heads bowed while holding flags downward.

Watch: Armistice Day tributes take place across Scotland

The traditional 11 November two-minute period of remembrance took place at 11:00 across the country.

Three rescuers wearing life jackets and hard hats work to free a humpback whale in a sea loch

Humpback whale tangled in creel lines set free

Experts used underwater cameras to work out how the whale was trapped, before untangling it in Loch Fyne.

Sandy Duthie from Aberdeenshire is now the lighthouse keeper on Gabo Island, in Victoria

The Scot in charge of an Australian lighthouse

Sandy Duthie from Aberdeenshire is now the lighthouse keeper on Gabo Island, in Victoria

Police stand next to a blue trawler vessel moored in a harbour

Watch: Police target fishing boat over 'modern slavery' claim

A 38-year-old man was arrested and two Ghanaian men were removed from the vessel as part of the operation.

Firework explodes on the top or a building behind a traffic island sending red and yellow sparks showering metres in all directions.

Watch: Fireworks set off on Scottish streets on Bonfire Night

Fire crews have been attacked as fireworks were set off on streets across Scotland on Bonfire Night.

The Jacobite Express steam train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands

Repairing Scotland's historic 'Harry Potter' bridge

Engineers have been working day and night on the Glenfinnan Viaduct as part of a £3.4m restoration project.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, wearing a blue top and black coat, stands beside Alex Salmond, wearing a blue shirt and dark jacket

Salmond death was shock to all in North Macedonia - Ahmed-Sheikh

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh says people in North Macedonia wanted to pay tribute to Alex Salmond.

Waves can be seen overtopping the barrier at Troon. The sky is grey and sea mist is being blown high by the wind.

Watch: Stormy waters and high winds as storm hits Scotland

Storm Ashley could cause gusts of up to 70-80 mph (113-129km/h) in some areas of Scotland.

Gillian Smart wears a red and black dress. She presents the weather in front of a green screen which forecasts high winds across Scotland.

The latest weather forecast as Storm Ashley hits Scotland

Gillian Smart has the latest weather forecast, as a yellow warning for high winds gusting up to 60 mph (97km/h) is in force across the whole of Scotland.

North Macedonian soldiers carrying Alex Salmond's coffin draped in a Saltire towards a private jet

Alex Salmond’s coffin flown home to Scotland

A plane carrying Alex Salmond's body has left North Macedonia and is being flown back to Scotland.

Black and white horse sticking its head out of a barn door while a police officer feeds it

Watch: Training police horses to help deal with public disorder

The BBC has been given an exclusive insight into the training of police horses when it comes to dealing with public order.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, wears a blue suit and glasses, as he stands in the House of Commons. Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves sit either side of him on the benches.

Salmond was a monumental figure in politics - Starmer

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pays tribute to the 'lasting legacy' of Alex Salmond.

Chris McEleny of the Alba Party speaks to the BBC via Zoom from Zagreb in Croatia

'Can't believe it's happened' - Salmond's Alba colleague

Chris McEleny of the Alba Party is travelling to North Macedonia, where Alex Salmond died on Saturday.

Calum MacColl

BBC weather presenter bursts into song live on air

Calum MacColl sung the Gaelic song that won him a gold medal at the Royal National Mòd in 2021.

Sally Magnusson sits in a darkened room wearing blue-rimmed glasses, a white top and a burgundy blazer

Sally Magnusson hears how a cure for Alzheimer's is 'within our grasp'

Sally Magnusson hears how testing for early symptoms of Alzheimer's could help find a cure for the condition.

BBC Scotland political correspondent Kirsten Campbell

Take a look at the Scottish Parliament building on its 20th birthday

The Scottish Parliament officially opened 20 years ago - but did you know the meanings behind some of its key features?

Snow expert Iain Cameron, wearing glasses and a great rain jacket, poses next to the Sphinx snow patch, which is about one metre wide and is melting into the ground below.

My pilgrimage to the vanishing Sphinx snow patch

The Sphinx, a patch of snow thought to be the longest-lasting in the UK, has melted for the fourth consecutive year.