Startup offering wind turbines that look like a tree and sound like one too
Wind turbines have been touted as one possible answer to global warming, but they're terrible for birds and bats, they're noisy, and they're an eyesore.
Now, a French startup is announcing the Wind Tree, a small, silent version that it says is ideal for cities.
Traditional wind turbines are not silent: a paper from 2008, "Sustainable Energy Choices for a Nation," cites that wind energy "will undoubtedly create noise, which increases stress, which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer." Not that any human deaths from wind turbine annoyance have been reported yet.
"The main advantage of our technology is that it works with a very small input of energy and turbulent energy," says NewWind founder Jerome Michaud-Lariviere. It can even produce energy when the wind is blowing at no more than two meters per second of wind.
http://www.haaretz.com/business/1.634315
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You know me and my background, and I love always finding solutions and I'm open minded to new things.
Also, smaller scale distributed solutions are more likely to be adoptable by individuals and not depend on a utility company.
But the bird bat eyesore arguments rub me the wrong way, the article would have stood on its own without that preface.
OBTW, Happy New Year!
Do you know about William and the Windmill?
....denigrating/putting down other types of wind-generated energy ie: windmills.
Not a great sales tactic if that's what it is. I think the birds and noise claims are bunk. Airplanes kill more birds than windmills and no one gripes about airplanes. And windmills are SILENT. I've seen fields of them in Rio Vista CA and they are not only beautiful, but quiet. The emus, cows, and sheep don't mind them at all. And neither do I.
I have pictures but don't want to post, but on one day the nacelle and blades to one were on the ground, about to be hoisted to the top of the mast, and my guests could walk right up and touch the blades which are so big you can walk INSIDE of them!
And they really aren't noisy, even standing right under them.
The ambient "whoosh" happens when there's wind and ambient wind noise, so it pretty much blends in.
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those puppies are almost always spinning like crazy. this is not far from me. when my financial life settles down some, i am def gonna look into some small wind. i KNOW i can put it on my roof, and be rewarded.
Walgreens had done a lot with energy, they have an EV charger at one location in town, hundreds more nationwide.
Wing Power Energy in Mass made the turbines, I feel like giving them a call.
Walgreens Debuts First Net Zero Energy Retail Store in Evanston, Ill.
December 31st, 2013
Located at 635 Chicago Ave. in Evanston, Ill and sporting two wind turbines, nearly 850 solar panels and a geothermal system burrowed 550 feet into the ground, Walgreens celebrated the official opening of what is believed to be the nation’s first net zero energy retail store, anticipated to produce energy equal to or greater than it consumes.
“As we celebrate the grand opening, we begin a one-year effort to operate a retail store that will generate more energy than it consumes. Using the best technologies available, we believe we can accomplish our goal of having the first net zero energy retail store in America,” said Mark Wagner, Walgreens president of operations. “Currently, we have facilities that utilize wind turbines, solar installations and geothermal technologies. This is the first time we are bringing all three of these technologies and many more together in one place.”
Walgreens plans to generate electricity and reduce its energy usage in the store by more than 50 percent through several technologies including:
--nearly 850 roof-top solar panels, generating enough energy to power 30 Illinois homes for a year;
--two 35-foot-tall wind turbines, using Lake Michigan breezes to generate enough power to offset annual greenhouse gas emissions from 2.2 passenger vehicles;
--geothermal energy obtained by drilling 550 feet into the ground below the store, where temperatures are more constant and can be tapped to heat or cool the store in winter and summer;
--LED lighting and daylight harvesting;
--carbon dioxide refrigerant for heating, cooling and refrigeration equipment;
--and energy efficient building materials.
http://www.wingpowerenergy.com/walgreens-debuts-first-net-zero-energy-retail-store-in-evanston-ill/
Daylight harvesting: we used to call them skylights!
...you'll remember that it was work related, wind and solar. I can check with my friends about any incentives in your city or state.
In California there was an energy commission program for small wind and fuel cells, one dollar/watt of nameplace capacity up to $10,000/meter.
I locked in reservations and then they pulled the list of approved turbines which changed the whole dynamics of it.
Anyway, $10,000 to put toward a 10kW turbine can go a long way!
I'll ask my buddy Glen.
