Look Ma, No Blade Windmill!

Where do you get all that water ?

Water mist will add to GW....

Birds would still fly into them, and bugs....

You would need a zillion of these, or a few really big ones(like several miles long), to get any useful amount of power....

Any material used in the net, that would last long enough to be practical, would have to be metallic I think, and would be a lightning rod in a storm....Now if they could harness the power from the lightning, that would be a neat trick....

Neat trick, but not practical in the real world or as an alternative to existing wind turbine technology.

I couldn't find any data in the links regarding efficiency, power in vs power out, water usage, etc.

Certainly good for a student project or getting grant money thou.

I was hoping somebody here would know more about it. Seems fishy that they don't release any quantifiable data on energy generation.

They say it is power some electric sign. It sure is pretty, I guess if it could power a sign and look pretty perhaps there is room for it in the future of power generation.

Drew K

Pretty new stuff. Only one in the world, so if there are no batteries hidden in the base, all we need to know is pump demand minus "wind-racket generator" output.

I can't find that. Not to mention the problems with spray systems and water.

Interesting idea. However like many interesting ideas the devil will always be in the details. For instance will this be nothing more than a new transducer approach to measure wind flow (anemometer) or can this be scaled up to actually produce power. Will the power produced be greater than the sum of the power required to mechanically raise the water to a release point and the power it will take to put a charge onto this water. A transducer will not be concerned with efficiency but accuracy of the result. Power production will be concerned almost exclusively with efficiency and not with accuracy.

The main thing missing here is all the pigeon crap that will accumulate on all the tubes and turn into dripping liquid guano by the water spray emanating from the contraption. Some poop might make it all the way to the ground, for an even better effect.

Are you saying they should plant tomatoes under these marvels of modern science ?

That's a great idea. Synergism. This could be LynDoor™ GEF* product line's next big leap for our Agra-Business Division.

*Genetically Engineered Food Good Earth Food

Well I wouldn't want to start any trade war with your current supplier....

Big Bubba Jack...

Distribution area...

Big Bubba's dog, Little Bubba....

<fact mode>

Guano is insoluble. The best that can be done is to turn it into a slurry or a paste.

</fact mode>

Don't confuse me with facts.

Hmm. Wonder if it harvests enough energy to pump the mist?

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Also the claim of no moving parts is intriguing... electrohydrodynamic? (I'm thinking they claimed 'no moving parts' by simply not considering any of the requirements that require moving parts.)

Seems like if you wanted to generate electricity from something shaped like this frame, the systems based on aeroelastic flutter would probably a better bet for a multitude of reasons.

I like the flutter generator, I could see them strung between a set of cables between two buildings.

Drew K

I like the idea but I'm also sceptical on the level of usefulness: it will be highly maintenance dependant and fatigue sensitive.

What is the sound level compared to HAWT and VAWT for the same power production?

It is also not necessary to make sure that the generator is always rotating in the same direction: a multi-pole low speed dynamo with rectifier could do the same.

Note that this basic research (thus no performance data available) is from the Netherlands and the video clip mentions their use mounted along side dykes. Location on the upwind side of raised dykes would offer several advantages.

1 The surrounding land is very flat allowing high wind speeds.

2 The dykes would provide a ready supply of water

3 Placed on a level below the dyke the water could be gravity fed so no pumping costs. A true no moving parts system.

4 The dykes themselves interrupt the visual landscape so no worries about wind arrays being aesthetically displeasing, especially if they were no higher than the existing level of the dyke.

5 Dykes tend to be long and straight with a service road running at the side. Ideal for constructing long modular wind arrays.

6 The dyke would create an alternative path for lightening strikes.

I applaud this idea as a piece of lateral thinking. We should be exploring other way-out ideas, like harnessing the vortex energy created as tidal currents flow round the base of marine wind turbines, or reversing the idea of charging cars passing over wires buried in the road, by magnetising the underside of cars and trains and harnessing their movement to generate power as they pass over generator coils buried in the road/tracks.

I suppose stealing energy from cars could be a way to generate revenue for road repairs. It would even be helpful in deceleration zones.

But in acceleration or constant speed zones it would be generating electricity from a very inefficient generating system. Magnetic weight could be a problem too unless you used electromagnets.

I don't think it is an entirely horrible idea, it would just need to be applied carefully and for now cost analysis would be critical.

Drew K

Before I can give my opinion on this system, I would need to see the environmental impact statements on the effects of ionized water particles on flora and fauna living downwind.

Before I invest I would need to see the lawsuit mitigation plans dealing with all of the humans who live nearby or who may traverse the nearby area and suffer from, singly or in any combination and not limited to, anxiety, hair loss, hearing loss, headaches, insomnia, fungus, fungal infections, tumors both benign and cancerous, ADD, ADHD, PhD, sweating, scrumpy, itching, hallucinations either auditory or visual or both, lack of hallucinations in the presence of truly righteous sh*t, or any other undesirable condition which can be shown to have significance to someone who may or may not be a statistician.

Why in the world do you need to see an environmental impact statement to voice your opinion in an open forum? I would certainly wish to examine such a statement before I purchased one of these systems. I would also insist on a lot more educated guesses related to return on investment and power output to consider purchasing such a fanciful device.

Hmm...he must be lawyer.

Drew K

I think he was not being 100% serious. I'm basing this on part of the list he provides which is actually pretty funny.

'...ADD, ADHD, PhD, sweating, scrumpy, itching, hallucinations either auditory or visual or both, lack of hallucinations in the presence of truly righteous sh*t....'

.

I think it is just light social commentary, rather than litigious ramblings.

Congress should vote to raise taxes so we can have this researched. Maybe the prez could appoint a czar to disperse the money...simular to the solar efforts of a couple years ago...we should ALL be willing to pay our 'fair share'....where should the plant be located?