“In anticipation of extreme heat during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, scientists and engineers at Qatar University have developed a solar-powered gas-filled cloud that will shade spectators and athletes from the intense sun. The $500,000 artificial clouds can be positioned over any of the stadiums in Qatar and can be maneuvered with a remote control from the ground to keep the passing sun off the field.”
From the DailyMail Online article:
Saud Abdul Ghani, head of the mechanical and industrial engineering department, told Gulf News the ‘clouds’ are made from a lightweight carbon structure carrying a giant envelope of material containing helium gas.
Four solar powered engines move the structure via remote control.
All I can say is: with their recent track record in launching climate related missions, don’t let NASA build it. Beyond the artist rendition below, I have not found any actual plans, drawings, or other indications that the ‘port-o-clouds’ are even engineered yet.
Solar powered? I guess nobody noticed the megawatts worth of electrical transmission lines nearby to run a/c unit if needed, as seen below.
From the Guardian, it seems there is even more trouble:
Al-Rayyan stadium, Qatar. Preparations for the 2022 World Cup will involve the ‘possible enslavement of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of impoverished south Asian migrant workers’. Photograph: Fadi Al-Assaad/Reuters
See more at: whyqatar2022.com
have developed a solar-powered gas-filled cloud that will shade spectators and athletes from the intense sun.
I want one. Are there any DIY plans on the world wide web?
A far cheaper solution would be to simply have Al Gore attend, and bring the Gore Effect with him.
You can probably get a block-booking discount for $30,000/day. (plus parking for his idling limos…)
My guess is that they’d save more “carbon” if they could convince the yoyos who play the game to stop shaving their private parts.
We’ve already got that in Toronto. We call it the Domed Stadium.
…yet another reason to hate soccer.
The people behind this must spend all day, everyday inside in front of a computer model. They will fail in the same manner that every blimp and dirigible program has ended. They keep forgetting one part of the weather. Everything will be fine, until it gets windy.
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/climate/Qatar.htm
“A hot, dust-laden wind, the Shamal, blows in the spring and summer-period, from March till August. sometimes these winds can be very strong, and cause Sandstorms”
This assumes that there will BE a Qatar in 2022.
Obscene waste of money that could be far better spent on so many other far more worthy things.
Dome???
They are the highest per-capita income country in the world….
…that’s why the UN considers them developing and have to do nothing about emissions
Holding the World Cup in Qatar is sheer lunacy. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Black Sunday-like plot to crash the cloud into the stands. Assuming Qatar is still around in 2022.
Move the da#ned thing to England. Germany gets it twice in 32 years and England only once in 1966?
Frank Lee MeiDere says:
March 27, 2011 at 5:48 pm
We’ve already got that in Toronto. We call it the Domed Stadium.
Surely there’s a misspelling there. Another “o” missing in “Domed.”
!!
Richard Day says:
March 27, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Holding the World Cup in Qatar is sheer lunacy. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Black Sunday-like plot to crash the cloud into the stands. Assuming Qatar is still around in 2022.
Move the da#ned thing to England. Germany gets it twice in 32 years and England only once in 1966?
One particular trouble.
England was/is not prepared to pay Blatter and his acolytes enough spondulicks!
luckily by 2022 nobody, except Al gore, and Jim Hansen, will care about CO2 and Qatar can build domed stadiums and air condition them like normal people would do.
If you want to block the sun, build a freakin’ domed stadium !!
@Tom Konerman
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20090283630.pdf
An engineered cloud. Right. Don’t the engineers know that current climate models have difficulty modeling clouds? Made of carbon fiber, too. That’s a bazillion bucks in carbon credits down the drain.
Why waste all that money on a kickball game? They could waste it better on US Govt Bonds, TARP notes, and help us with all that Quantitative Easing that’s wearing out the Regime’s printing presses.
How better to make sure the world knows that Qatar is a new world supplier of helium than to sponsor a series of freakingingly giant helium ships?
A press release from 2003:
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Qatar will become one of the world’s leading helium producers by 2010, with the launch of a $115m helium joint venture plant. It will be located at the Ras Laffan Industrial City, with Qatargas, RasGas and RasGas II supplying the helium. The contract for the design and construction of the plant was awarded to the French company Air Liquide Engineering SA on 21st May, 2003. The Minister of Energy and Chairman of Qatargas, HE Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah signed on behalf of Qatargas and Dr. Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Vice Chairman on behalf of RasGas.
The plant owners have also concluded two separate long-term agreements with BOC Group Inc. and Air Liquide America LP for the installation of facilities required to extract helium from natural gas, purify and liquefy it for export.
http://www.qatargas.com.qa/PressReleases.aspx?id=814&tmp=88&folderID=120
===============
I don’t know the current status of the helium production, but with their natural gas coming online now, it stands to reason their helium production is ramping up now as well. (Helium and large deposits of natural gas are sometimes related)
It seems to me that it is hot even under shade when the temperature is over 100 ° F [in June] as happens frequently in Qatar.
The average Qatar temperature seems to be 106 for June, 106 for July, and 105 for Aug.
Am I missing something ?
i say let them have fun with the idea. what harm can come from it and it will be something to talk about if you go there.
Whose dumba– idea was it to have the games in a place where the temperatures get to 50c ( 122F) ? That’s a tad warm for the spectators even if they have a flying sunscreen. So why not just use the A/C?
Been around LTA some. Mainly hot air ops, a bit with small commercial blimps.
This thing gives me the willies unmanned, untethered no ground crew. Wind is the enemy of Balloons…
As the top drawing shows, there will be full stadium lighting. Just play the frogging games at night. Duh.
Come on, guys! Qatar will still be around in 2022, but they won’t be hosting any World Cup.
Those FIFA officials who voted for Qatar will come to realise what a stupid decision it was once they’ve spent all the bribes they received.
The contracts with Qatar will be terminated and England will be given the right to host the World Cup in 2022.
Then Qatar will disclose all the bribes they paid to FIFA officials and hell will break loose.
It sounds like they’ll be holding a giant Zeppelin like structure above a stadium full of people. It’s hard to imagine how this will get off the ground.
So do I have this right, some super-duper device run on solar power with giant helium filled balloons, remotely controlled and untethered, where any wind is a risk, very hot sun and temps, all to provide ‘shade’ over a large group of people at a sports event?
What could go wrong?