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.
Another Bladeless Windmill Stalks the Mindscape
By
Paul Gipe
Here we go again. Another windmill invention is stalking the Internet. This time it is the “bladeless” windmill, reintroduced. Atlantic Cities first published a glowing piece (Invention of the Day: A Bladeless Windmill) that fits all the pie-in-the-sky standard checklist.
Are airborne wind turbines (kitess) a plausible source of cheap clean energy?
By
Mike Barnard
An ongoing area of enthusiasm and often fruitless investment is the area of high-altitude wind generation. Numerous companies have products which are hyped as replacing the iconic white tower with three rotating blades that grace 240,000 individual sites around the world today. At most, some of these products will be useful in high-cost niches where more cost effective alternatives have very specific limitations.
What is the most efficient design for a wind generator?
By
Mike Barnard
It seems as if every week, a new wind generator innovation is unveiled, sometimes in technology blogs, sometimes in TV segments, once even on TED Talks. They all claim to be better than the iconic, triblade, horizontal-axis wind turbines we are most familiar with. So what is the most efficient design for capturing wind energy? If each design were subject to a constant wind source, and each design had the same surface area (for blades, aerofoils, or other component), which would generate the most electricity over the same time interval?. .
KXAN: Turbine designer arrested for fraud: Jonestown turbines were deemed not viable
By
A series of wind turbines planned for the city of Jonestown is on hold after criminal charges were filed against one of the designers. . . Charlie Malouff, the founder of the C.M Energies, has been arrested on charges of securing execution of a document by deception. C.M. Energies is the Taylor-based company which produces the wind turbines. . .
Consumer Reports: a new wind turbine delivers little
By
But so far, we’ve seen only a fraction of the total power that WindTronics says we should for our area, even after several visits from a company-authorized installer. At that rate, the Honeywell wouldn’t pay its way over its expected life of 20 years.
Quick Grab a Stake–Mag-Wind Rises from the Grave
By
Paul Gipe
Mag-Wind is back. Grab your children. Bar the door. The dead walk. . . Worse Ed Begley and Jay Leno, those omnipresent endorsers of all things “green”, have leapt to the aid of the undead. Their names and pictures are plastered across the web site of Enviro-Energies, the now parent of Mag-Wind.