Kite Power

Minesto's fully operational Dragon 12 looks like some sort of futuristic military drone – but it behaves remarkably like a kite underwater. It uses lift generated by tidal flows to fly patterns faster than the currents, harvesting renewable energy.

A Dutch startup spun out of the Delft University of Technology has launched the Kitepower Hawk, a wind energy storage solution that's designed to replace diesel generators for small island communities, on construction sites or in agriculture.

The SP80 and Syroco teams have both got their remarkable boats on the water. Looking like a pair of alien spaceships, and pulled by ultra-fast kites instead of sails on masts, both these machines are built to reach terrifying, unprecedented speeds.

Forget about merely living off-grid, the future is about living offshore, full-time. The Sovereign Ships Sphinx 40 has been conceived as an on-water homestead capable of producing its own power, harvesting its own fresh water and growing food.

French company Airseas has installed its first half-size automated Seawing kite to a cargo ship chartered by Airbus, and will commence six months of trials in January. The full-size kite is estimated to save up to 20 percent of fuel burn and emissions.

Two teams, Switzerland's SP80 and France's Syroco, are taking aim at the world speed sailing record in 2022, with a pair of thoroughly remarkable kiteboats that both teams believe can smash previous records, targeting top speeds up to 80 knots.

We've already heard about renewable energy systems that use aerial kites to generate electricity via the wind. Well, the Manta system is kind of similar, although it uses an underwater kite that "flies" in tidal or river currents.

Going greener than average with their latest superyacht, Red Yacht Design and Dykstra Naval Architects skip diesel-electric in favor of diesel-kite power. The Ice Kite also includes a helipad, beach area with waterfall, and toy-carrying tender.

A year ago, Wally previewed the sleek 48 Wallytender, a stylish yacht tender with expandable deck. Now Wally gives the 48 a little extra juice, swapping the twin-Volvo drive for a quartet of Mercury outboard engines to create the 48 Wallytender X.

Established in 1993 by the first Dutch astronaut, Delft University kite generation systems might find traction in rural Africa.

Berlin-based wind energy developer NTS GmbH has teamed with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) to make their kite energy system concept a reality.