Inventions & Questionable Turbines

This category is a catchall for all those contraptions that burst on the scene in a blaze of media hype as different from those “other” wind turbines only to eventually disappear. It’s not possible to critique every “invention” that plagues the field of wind energy so only those that have piqued my curiosity, or are particularly egregious, are listed here.

Let’s get real about cute little wind turbines

By

Lloyd Alter

After years of writing about turbines that never came on to the market, and some where the promoters went to jail, and a whole lot of reading, I decided that perhaps this is one of those green gizmo ideas that are more about looks and image than they are about actually doing good. Because every study of small urban wind turbines says they don’t work or they perform at a fraction of their promised output.

8 Reasons to be Skeptical of the “Tree” Wind Turbine

By

Simon Mahan

While it’s great that innovators are still evaluating different ways to produce clean power, don’t lose sight of how amazing the more mainstream technologies already are: Electricity from the air and sun for dirt cheap. Welcome to 2015!

Renewables International: The Port of Hamburg–On-site wind power is successful

By

Craig Morris

Eurogate wants to make seven million kWh available with the wind power farm and also its newly constructed combined heat and power plant (CHP). Eurogate also generates power from photovoltaic systems. Along with energy efficiency measures, Eurogate aims to achieve a full supply for the terminal and use their own power directly.

Solar Wind Energy Towers: harvesting R&D dollars for decades

By

Mike Barnard

Smart people reinvent variations of these things fairly often. People get enthused about them, get people to invest, build prototypes which don’t work as hoped. The prototypes get abandoned and hopefully get torn down. There are a few around, and they pop up in speculative fiction occasionally, but they just aren’t economically viable in reality.

Renewables International: Finally, invisible wind turbines

By

Craig Morris

A German startup launches a crowdfunding campaign tomorrow for its “wind kites,” and it is doing so by bad-mouthing the wonderful stuff we have. These folks resort to crowdfunding because people who understand the technology are skeptical. And once again, I will not abide the bad-mouthing of the great wind turbines we already have.

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FloDesign-Ogin Some Brief Comments

By

Paul Gipe

The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Wind Energy for the Rest of Us. It is provided here …