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Title: Wind Power Without the Blades: Big Pics
Source:
Discovery News
URL Source: http://news.discovery.com/tech/wind-power-without-the-blades.html
Published: Jan 22, 2012
Author: Alyssa Danigelis
Post Date: 2012-01-22 18:55:41 by lucysmom
Keywords: None
Views: 3073
Comments: 6
Noise from wind turbine blades, inadvertent bat and bird kills and even the way wind turbines look have made installing them anything but a breeze. New York design firm Atelier DNA has an alternative concept that ditches blades in favor of stalks. Resembling thin cattails, the Windstalks generate electricity when the wind sets them waving. The designers came up with the idea for the planned city Masdar, a 2.3-square-mile, automobile-free area being built outside of Abu Dhabi. Atelier DNA’s "Windstalk"project came in second in the Land Art Generator competition a contest sponsored by Madsar to identify the best work of art that generates renewable energy from a pool of international submissions. snip After completion, a Windstalk should be able to produce as much electricity as a single wind turbine, with the advantage that output could be increased with a denser array of stalks. Density is not possible with conventional turbines, which need to be spaced about three times the rotor's diameter in order to avoid air turbulence. But Windstalks work on chaos and turbulence so they can be installed much closer together, said Núñez-Ameni. Núñez-Ameni also reports that the firm is currently working on taking the Windstalk idea underwater. Called Wavestalk, the whole system would be inverted to harness energy from the flow of ocean currents and waves. The firm’s long-term goal is to build a large system in the United States, either on land or in the water.
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#1. To: Not Badeye, A K A Stone, Fred Mertz, Godwinson, go65, war, no gnu taxes, Skip Intro, ferret mike, jwpegler, mininggold, brian s, mcgowanjm (#0)
Economics is a social phenomenon and in no way a “science”, no matter how desperately its high priests would like to have it believed otherwise. It is, instead, a branch of anthropology and the sooner that is recognized and accepted, the better off human-kind in general and the world of academic economics, in particular, shall be proximity1 We probably will see widespread civil disorder in the 1980s, as a direct result of our faltering economic system. Ron Paul
The wind doesn't always blow. The sun doesn't always shine. There is no way that these energy sources can comprise more than a tiny amount of power on the grid without creating perpetual power outages. The only way that solar and wind energy could supply a large portion of our energy needs is if their energy could be transformed into something that could be stored and transported. One option is to use solar and wind to split hydrogen from water for use in fuel cells. Unlike the Obama administration, I believe that fuel cells are probably the future of transportation. Most of the nine largest auto companies agree. GM, Mercedes, Honda, and others are spending a ton a money on fuel cell research. TODAY, fuel cell technology is extraordinarily unreliable, expensive, and therefore economically unfeasible. But fuel cells have made great strides in the last 10 years. We'll see how the market improves this technology in the next 5, 10 and 20 years... Transforming solar and wind power into something that can be stored and transported is the only way that wind and solar could ever supply a significant portion of our energy needs.
The sun doesn't always shine. There is no way that these energy sources can comprise more than a tiny amount of power on the grid without creating perpetual power outages. The only way that solar and wind energy could supply a large portion of our energy needs is if their energy could be transformed into something that could be stored and transported. We don't use just one technology to generate power now. If you read the entire article you will find they've designed an alternative for when the wind doesn't blow.
Economics is a social phenomenon and in no way a “science”, no matter how desperately its high priests would like to have it believed otherwise. It is, instead, a branch of anthropology and the sooner that is recognized and accepted, the better off human-kind in general and the world of academic economics, in particular, shall be proximity1 We probably will see widespread civil disorder in the 1980s, as a direct result of our faltering economic system. Ron Paul
Already being developed. There's a company out there called E.On that is developing several methods for so storing. Germany is way ahead of the curve on wind power generation and storage.
I'll believe that a corporation is a person 1 second after Texas executes one...
Interesting. I wonder if they could do the same thing with waves in the ocean.
If you read the entire article you will find they've designed an alternative for when the wind doesn't blow. Maybe the could be coated with something solar.
#2. To: lucysmom (#0)
(Edited)
Iran’s main drive for acquiring atomic weapons is not for use against Israel but as a deterrent against U.S. intervention -- Major General Zeevi Farkash, head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate
#3. To: jwpegler (#2)
The wind doesn't always blow.
#4. To: jwpegler (#2)
The only way that solar and wind energy could supply a large portion of our energy needs is if their energy could be transformed into something that could be stored and transported.
#5. To: lucysmom (#1)
#6. To: lucysmom (#3)
We don't use just one technology to generate power now.
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