Dangerous Dynamic Fluid-Structure Interactions Give Rise To Ingenious Green Innovations
In 2004, Shawn Frayne, a member of a team from MIT visiting Petite Anse, Haiti, found the fishing village near the coast was not connected to an electrical grid, and the only lighting available was diesel-powered or kerosene-based. Frayne recognized that white LEDs powered by a small, very inexpensive wind generator might be better able to power LED lamps and radios in the homes and schools in the area. However, he hit a brick wall – turbine technology is too inefficient at these scales to be a viable option. (more…)
Travelers on Germany’s A9 Autobahn are likely to do some double-takes this holiday. That giant light isn’t an alien–it’s the world’s largest spinning Christmas star.
Power giant Siemens contracted multimedia artist Michael Pendry for the massive project done in partnership with Munich City Utilities. A crew attached 3,000 tiny, colored LEDs on each of three turbine blades using special adhesives. The lights glow in different patterns as the blades rotate, putting on a show evenings and early mornings through January 6, 2010. Since the turbine is part of a local smart grid system, clean energy is powering the lights.
Hat tips to Jacob Gordon at TreeHugger and Bridgette Meinhold at Inhabitat for bringing this star story to light. Maybe next year power companies here in the States will see their turbines as canvases.
Do you know who the top ten countries are as far as wind farms is concerned?
1. Germany
2. United States
3. Spain
4. India
5. China
6. Denmark
7. Italy
8. France
9. United Kingdom
10. Portugal
Coming to a Rooftop Near You: Maglev Wind Turbines
Vertical wind turbines put pressure on bearings, but one company, Enviro Energies, has a better idea: maglev or magnetic levitation of the turbine so that it will turn, not on bearings that need lubrication and servicing, but on a virtually frictionless force field of magnetism. In addition, Enviro sees its new vertical turbine as suitable for city rooftops, as its design takes even light wind currents from any direction and converts them to usable electrical power. See a Discovery Channel denmonstration of how the turbines work. Then jump over to their productspage for more information and pricing.
For Better Or Worse, A Glimpse At The Sum Of All The Talk
Yesterday, in San Francisco, Google launched a new interactive tool in its Google Earth Web site as part of a climate change press conference by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger designed to let Californians see the risks of climate change. The Google feature and climate report were produced after Schwarzenegger directed agencies last year to devise a strategy to prepare California for the inevitable changes ahead. The report warns rising temperatures over the next few decades will lead to more heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods. It recommends avoiding development in low-lying areas vulnerable to rising sea level, storm surges and coastal erosion.
Schwarzenegger released the final 200-page report on California’s climate change strategy also created a 23-member climate adaptation advisory panel to devise recommendations for how the state must adapt to climate change. With a July deadline for these recommendations. Its members include leaders from business, labor, government and the private sector. Now see what can be achieved when Democrats and Republicans get their heads together for the greater good and play nice!
“When it comes to fighting global warming and climate change, it is technology, in the end, that will save us all,” Schwarzenegger said.
The California Resources Agency partnered with Google on the program called CalAdapt, a part of what Schwarzenegger described as a first-ever, comprehensive state-level strategy to adapt to the future effects of climate change. CalAdapt gives a graphic view of climate change’s potential effect on California. Based on scientific modeling, it shows Californians how warming temperatures, rising sea levels, precipitation shifts and more frequent, intense wildfires impact their environment and how California should prepare for climate change. All just a mouse click away, such things as the shrinking snow pack along the Sierra Nevada and how a rise in sea level could submerge parts of San Francisco.
The old saying of “a picture is worth a thousand words” takes on new meaning when you can actually see AT&T Park, where San Francisco Giants play, under five feet of water, if we stay the current course.
The governor released his report on Treasure Island, a man-made island where three years ago he signed California’s landmark global warming law that requires the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. “Within a century, Treasure Island, this place where we are right now, could be totally under water,” Schwarzenegger said during a late-morning news conference.
The Honeywell Wind Turbine eliminates traditional wind turbine gear box, shaft and generators. The Honeywell Wind Turbine is a gearless, “free wheeling’’ turbine that generates power from the blade tips (where the speed lies) rather than through a complex slow center shaft. By practically eliminating mechanical resistance and drag, the Honeywell Wind Turbine creates significant power (2000 kWh/yr) operating in a greater range of wind speeds (2-45 mph) than traditional wind turbines. The highest output, lowest cost per kWh installed turbine ever made. So powerful, so simple.
The price is coming down along with getting all parts needed for a full installation. None of this one piece at a time routine. So, bottom line, this one has the biggest bang for your buck!
Have you stood near a roadway and been buffeted by the gusts of wind from passing cars, or nearly knocked over by the force of wind from a big rig truck? That is energy gone to waste ….. until now. Mark Oberholzer, a professor of landscape architecture at Rice University in Houston, proposes installing small vertical-axis wind turbines (Darius turbines), inside the concrete highway dividers to generate power. Utilizing the wind energy created by passing traffic. (more…)
In 2004, Shawn Frayne, a member of a team from MIT visiting Petite Anse, Haiti, found the fishing village near the coast was not connected to an electrical grid, and the only lighting available was diesel-powered or kerosene-based. Frayne recognized that white LEDs powered by a small, very inexpensive wind generator might be better able to power LED lamps and radios in the homes and schools in the area. However, he hit a brick wall – turbine technology is too inefficient at these scales to be a viable option. (more…)
Coming to a Rooftop Near You: Maglev Wind Turbines
Yesterday, in San Francisco, Google launched a new interactive tool in its Google Earth Web site as part of a climate change press conference by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger designed to let Californians see the risks of climate change. The Google feature and climate report were produced after Schwarzenegger directed agencies last year to devise a strategy to prepare California for the inevitable changes ahead. The report warns rising temperatures over the next few decades will lead to more heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods. It recommends avoiding development in low-lying areas vulnerable to rising sea level, storm surges and coastal erosion.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=5d00dd4f-2d9b-495e-99d4-4f2be80d1521)
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Have you stood near a roadway and been buffeted by the gusts of wind from passing cars, or nearly knocked over by the force of wind from a big rig truck? That is energy gone to waste ….. until now. Mark Oberholzer, a professor of landscape architecture at 
