GLOBAL NEXT-GEN WIND GETS HIGH, GETS DOWN

Wind turbines take to the skies to seek out more power

Richard Anderson, 4 March 2015 (BBC News)

“…[A] new wave of turbine technologies is looking to end the debate [about wind energy efficiency] once and for all, by making wind power cheaper, more flexible and, in many cases, less intrusive on pristine countryside…Some won't make it to market, but those that do could revolutionise wind power…Prof Yuji Ohya from Japan's Kyushu University is leading a team designing a conical structure placed round the turbine blades to generate low pressure and accelerate wind speed…[SheerWind’s Dr Daryoush Allaei and his team are] designing…[the Invelox system, which] captures wind at speeds as low as 2kph, funnels it to increase speed before passing it through a small turbine. Not only is the design able to capture winds at low speed… [T]he company claims the cost of electricity generated by Invelox is almost three times less…

"Research by the Politecnico di Torino…found that wind speeds at 800m are more than twice those at 10m, with power 10 times greater…[Germany's EnerKite] has designed a 100KW [carbon fibre wing kite that] produces the same amount of electricity as a 200KW-300KW turbine, which means cheaper power…[T]he notoriously secretive Google X’s Makani is tesing] a tethered, carbon fibre glider flying in circles at an altitude of up to 350m, carrying up to 8 small turbines…[W]ith such an array of new technologies, the case against harnessing the wind's power appears to be weakening by the day.” click here for more

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