Although I'm unsure if this is planning on being implemented, I thought it was an elegant idea. The Windstalk concept was developed for the "Land Art Generator" competition this year. Designed to be an alternative to wind turbines, the Windstalks generate energy through a more natural process, namely by swaying in the breeze as a field of wheat might do. By eliminating the blades, the stalks decrease the risk of killing birds and bats, decrease noise, and are able to be placed closer together. As the stalks sway in the wind, electrical energy is generated by forcing a fluid through an array of current generating shock absorbers. They would also incorporate hydroelectric storage on a small scale for each stalk. The base would vary from stalk to stalk; this would direct water to certain areas and encourage plant growth. The stalks would also have LED lights on top; the brightness of the light would depend on the intensity of the wind. It's only a concept and still needs a lot of research before it can be implemented, but I thought it was a pretty cool idea.
http://www.gizmag.com/windstalk-concept/16647/
http://news.discovery.com/tech/wind-power-without-the-blades.html
I see some potential in this development. While it may take many more years of research and improvements, wind stalks does exhibit many advantageous compared to wind mills. One thing i can imagine with wind stalks is using them as street lights. Where night time the wind is strongest, that is also when people need street lights to operate. Those LED lights you spoke of ontop of the stalks can provide lighting for roads while producing and selling back energy to the grid at the same time. There are probably many flaws in that idea but i think its a possible way to save energy.
ReplyDeleteThis is an extremely creative invention. I don't think many people have watched the grass in a field swaying in the wind and thought, "hey! We should make that create energy!" I still don't quite understand how it can generate that much electricity compared to a normal wind turbine with blades, but possibly with more research it could possibly be created. It's a fantastic idea from my perspective and will make some of the environmentalists/bird watchers happy. So, I, for one, am excited to see if this will actually be able to work. If so, this could completely revolutionize the engineering world.
ReplyDeleteThis idea is not only a new way to attain energy but also a great structure to look at. I like how they got the idea from nature, too. I wish this technology was closer to its feasibility so I can know more about how this will actually works. However, from the looks of this, it seems like more of these structures have to be made to make energy than a normal wind turbine, and these structures look very costly. I wonder if it will be cost-effective, but in brighter note, it seems it requires less wind strength to make these structures move so this structure might be better than wind turbines in that way. Although, I wonder how much these structures will bend if the winds were stronger than 60mph or if there was a tornado and what will happen if that happens...
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see how new energy sources will be created in a decade or so; I just hope this idea is not one of those ideas that die away.