Modern multi-megawatt wind turbines are downright gargantuan, standing more than 700 feet tall with 260-foot blades spinning 190 mph at the tip. To make sure that these monolithic machines are up for 20 years of energy production, GE has created a tortuous test bed capable of sucking 20 years of life from a turbine in a matter of months.
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There have been many proposed alternatives to the spinning propeller blades used on wind turbines installed all over the county, but none as unorthodox as Festo’s new DualWingGenerator. Inspired by the company’s work on winged flying robots
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We all know wind turbines can produce electricity, but have you seen them produce lightning?
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Electricity-generating windmills churn out free energy as long as the wind is blowing. So strapping one to the roof of your car where there’s always a breeze as long as you’re driving just seems obvious. The Transport Turbine—seen here as a 3D printed proof of concept—puts four small wind turbines on the roof of your car that generate electricity as long as you’re driving at least 25 mph, with minimal drag so as not to affect your gas mileage.
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As wind energy has expanded over the years, engineers have raced to build larger and larger turbines—designed to take advantage of as much wind as possible. But the architect Renzo Piano and an energy company in Italy are trying to make a smaller turbine—one that’s suitable for the average yard.
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The planet is in rough shape. A new report from the Renewable Energy Industry Institute found that total levels of global greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high last year. And we’re starting to feel the consequences of all that carbon output as climate change leads to freakish superstorms like Hurricane Sandy. As New York City prepares for more large, destructive storms, many urban planners have raised the possibility of installing giant Rotterdam-style floodgates to protect the city. There are no current plans to install floodgates around NYC, but given the increasingly unpredictable weather in the region, it might be a good idea. In a different answer to rising sea levels, Dutch studio Whim Architects produced plans for floating, self-sustaining homes made from plastic waste from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Scientists also found that climate change is actually affecting satellites that are orbiting the planet, and a separate study warned that climate change could wipe out coffee production by 2080.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: self-sustaining homes, wooden wind turbines and the world’s first solar-powered nation originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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One of the things you can expect from another four years of the Obama administration: wind turbines. Lots and lots of wind turbines. And with them as Stephen Colbert reports, come a slew of illnesses. Or at least, accusations of such: More »
Wind turbines are usually situated in vast tracts of land, normally in wind farms or places away from the city. This is done because the gale is the strongest in these regions and lets these turbines generate significant amounts of energy. Smaller wind turbines can also be installed in more urbane dwellings but they usually generate tiny outputs.
Researchers are now trying to counter this with the help of a new modeling software. The idea is that there must be such wind turbine designs and positions which could generate greater output when fixed in the urban areas. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Streaming media not so green after all?, Wind power alone can produce more-than-enough electricity for all of mankind,
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