A prototype of the Air HES cloud moisture collection device.

(AIR HES)

If you told Andrew Kazantsev that he really had his head in the clouds, he’d likely take it as a compliment. The Russian scientist has big plans to save the world by using just that–cloud power.

Kazantsev and his St. Petersburg-based team havecreated an early prototype of a device that is able to extract water from clouds high above in theatmosphere.

Dubbed the Air Hydro Electric Station, or Air HES, the relatively simple technology wouldprovide a source of clean drinking water, but it could also make the wisps that hang above on a pretty spring day just as important a source of renewable energy as wind, water and solar power.

"(The technology) potentially provides a source of very cheap, green and renewable power and fresh water for all people on Earth," Kazantsevtold Motherboard.

According to Inhabitat.com, the group's goal is toprovideclean drinking water and electricityto poor parts of the world.

The Air HES is essentially an aerostat weather balloon with a few added bells and whistles – a vertical sheet of mesh, a water collector and a turbo generator. The device can be launched over 7,000 feet into the atmosphere, high enough to reach mid-level clouds in the troposphere, redOrbit.com reports.

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A mesh sheet is attached to the Air HES to collect water from the clouds.

(Air HES)

In the air, Air HES looks sort of like a small blimp with a suspended screen door hanging below. And just as dew collects on a screen door, the mesh traps moisture as clouds pass through, according to Gizmag. The droplets of water then funnel through a series of conduits down to a turbo generator, which produces clean drinking water and electricity via water pressure.

On its most basic level, the device sounds like a sophisticated rain collector. But the scientists behind the project saythat along with clean drinking water, the Air HES can produce tremendous amounts of clean energy.

Kazantsevclaims that the device can produce about 800 terawatts (TW) of power – 60 times more than the entire population of Earth needs, according to redOrbit.com. The power generated by the Air HES would be cleaner and more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels, which are currently our main source of energy.

So far, Kazantsev and his based team say that they have already managed to build a prototype that produces a gallon of water from low-level clouds in about an hour. They've started both Indiegogo.com andVCStart.com campaigns to fund a full-scale version of the project, but have yet to met their goals.

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