Wind Power Without the Blades

I've never seen this idea before and I cannot find a date for the article, but I think this is a great idea. Almost artistic in a way, if you would view it at night. I hope if it is old, then it may still be new to someone!


-- lol, I see in the pasted Image URL it's 2010. oh well, not really a new idea. most likely posted..

I'll post it anyway as a search for the subject kept trying to show me countless threads about some ufo that hit one.. S- If it's been posted before... I apologise !!

By Alyssa Danigelis

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....

Each stalk will contain alternating layers of electrodes and ceramic discs made from piezoelectric material, which generates a current when put under pressure. In the case of the stalks, the discs will compress as they sway in the wind, creating a charge...

“Windstalk is completely silent, and the image associated with them is something we're already used to seeing in a field of wheat or reeds in a marsh. Our hope is that people living close to them will like to walk through the field -- especially at night -- under their own, private sky of swarming stars,” said Núñez-Ameni.

Discovery website link

It reminds me of hair follicles.

Rogaine for Earth!

Man, that would be a neat place to hike through. Or setup other recreational activities, so long as the lighting is bright enough at night.

Amazing.

I bet that would be beautiful in practice. It's already awe inspiring in concept. Maybe this idea will squash the talk about the bird migration habits. Humans are sometimes beautiful in their creation, to mimic fields of wheat and produce energy in the design...what a fantastic concept.

A lot of the light in the concept render is being wasted into space. You would think that an alternative/green energy company would be tuned into issues such as light pollution and energy conservation. It's a simple fix with ground directed reflective covers but you would think the company would be a little more concerned about what their advertising does for their image.

It is beautiful though.

Lets just hope aliens don't attack us with giant tweezers!!

reply to post by dainoyfb


I was wondering about that also, but LED lights don't require a lot to shine, so depending on how much the actual idea generates, regulating off between 1.5-3 volts to illuminate them hopefully wouldn't be too taxing.

I just want to see a field of them one day, just seems to peaceful to me!

Originally posted by User8911
Lets just hope aliens don't attack us with giant tweezers!!

Lol, or a huge whipper snipper and take to out our only means of energy in the year 2145!!1

I think that looks awfully nice as a concept for the art board and a distant future. As it is though, we can't get reliable AND efficient production from the big bird-chopping wind turbines. I'd sure like to see them make the obvious ones work before putting too much effort into generations beyond. Not when the need for the here and now is so great.

Now thats one place i would not want to be in or around during a lighting storm.

reply to post by cerebralassassins

Oh goodness...in that line of thinking, images of a skydiver with an out of control parachute come to mind......and scenes not fit to show on Cable news. Hmmm....... Perhaps this idea needs a bit more time in the oven.

Geese, steel technology from the trees. Trees make energy by motion too. some trees are better than others, especially evergreens. I hope they admit the trees gave them the idea

kinda reminds me of my arm hairs and the static that will charge them time to time

3rd

I predict this will be banned in Brazil.

Originally posted by cerebralassassins
Now thats one place i would not want to be in or around during a lighting storm.

Isn't it funny how everyone ignores the fact that lightning could provide a lot of extra power to any city. We have two large TV and Radio towers that get struck every time a storm comes through. Seems like free power to me.

They'd work way better if they had leaves.

Originally posted by mainidh

Originally posted by User8911
Lets just hope aliens don't attack us with giant tweezers!!

Lol, or a huge whipper snipper and take to out our only means of energy in the year 2145!!1

A riding lawnmower would for bigger area lol

Originally posted by reitze
They'd work way better if they had leaves.

Joking detected? Not sure.

Piezoelectric means electricity generated by pressure. I'm not sure how that would work better with leaves.

reply to post by mainidh


I like this approach and feel it can also be used in the oceans of EA*RTH

Originally posted by Patriotsrevenge

Originally posted by cerebralassassins
Now thats one place i would not want to be in or around during a lighting storm.

Isn't it funny how everyone ignores the fact that lightning could provide a lot of extra power to any city. We have two large TV and Radio towers that get struck every time a storm comes through. Seems like free power to me.

I have thought about that too. The reason tall structures get struck is that they provide a path of minimal resistance to dissipate the electrical charge to the Earth. But the problem with that is that if you try to extract power from lightning, you will increase the resistance of it's path to the earth, which would make the lightning more likely to strike somewhere else instead. Maybe there is some way of extracting a small amount of power from lightning strikes, but it definitely is not as simple as it seems.

As far as the OP goes, it will be interesting to see how this technology progresses. I can't imagine these wind stalks being cheap to manufacture initially, but perhaps they could become a viable energy source in the future. Perhaps even as just a novelty attraction more than anything else.

reply to post by mr10k


I guess what reitze means: if the poles had leaves they would bend even more in wind, bacause of the bigger air resistance. While we at it: lets hook some solar panel leaves on it, to get more electricity out.

Anyway, i like the concept, looks nice and organic. Not so sure How efficient it would be, but it s worth a try.