Interested mostly about wind turbines on a small scale and listened a few years ago while driving to a radio interview with this fellow who invented some kind of new wind turbine and it sounded very unique. Kind of forgot about it until driving in the prairies while looking at the behemoth wind farms recently.
Could not find any photos while searching online so made some inquires and this is what was sent me – pretty neat.
Background:
ART Turbine Inc.
Inventor is Drew Rokeby-Thomas (patented).
This design seems to revolutionize the current way of harnessing wind and tidal water energy.
From information it seems that the turbine will be about the same initial cost as a conventional turbine, but less to install, yet produces about double the power because it is built to capture low wind or water speeds. It says that “Tests have shown the turbine will operate efficiently in the 10 to 40-kilometre range in air and in the 0.5 to six-km range in water.”
Rokeby-Thomas says that, “…the turbine has promising potential for places like shorelines, hilltops, prairies and other open spaces. The big advantage that we have, is most wind and tidal systems have to be aimed. Ours is indifferent to wind and tide direction. It just sits there and works.”
Also
There is a link/video to a vertical axis windmill here that is worth viewing if interested;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIkzAnbihI&feature=player_embedded
Bird mortality from windmills is an issues and there was a design that also look at this but cannot find it. Of course the industry says things like cats
kill hundreds of millions of birds a year while wind turbines only kill (no injury data stated) 10,000 - 40,000; seems like a power industry statement, but maybe there is some truth to it, however, they don't tell you that of those killed, they are likely large raptures, owls and such.
Could not find any photos while searching online so made some inquires and this is what was sent me – pretty neat.
Background:
ART Turbine Inc.
Inventor is Drew Rokeby-Thomas (patented).
This design seems to revolutionize the current way of harnessing wind and tidal water energy.
From information it seems that the turbine will be about the same initial cost as a conventional turbine, but less to install, yet produces about double the power because it is built to capture low wind or water speeds. It says that “Tests have shown the turbine will operate efficiently in the 10 to 40-kilometre range in air and in the 0.5 to six-km range in water.”
Rokeby-Thomas says that, “…the turbine has promising potential for places like shorelines, hilltops, prairies and other open spaces. The big advantage that we have, is most wind and tidal systems have to be aimed. Ours is indifferent to wind and tide direction. It just sits there and works.”
Also
There is a link/video to a vertical axis windmill here that is worth viewing if interested;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIkzAnbihI&feature=player_embedded
Bird mortality from windmills is an issues and there was a design that also look at this but cannot find it. Of course the industry says things like cats
kill hundreds of millions of birds a year while wind turbines only kill (no injury data stated) 10,000 - 40,000; seems like a power industry statement, but maybe there is some truth to it, however, they don't tell you that of those killed, they are likely large raptures, owls and such.
