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Obsolete information. People are largely unaware of the full gamut of renewable energy technologies. Even so, the Department of Energy did an extensive study that said that Texas, Kansas, and North Dakota could supply the country's full energy needs from wind energy alone, but we're not just talking solar panels and turbines.

We could slash building energy requirements drastically: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_solar_building_design
Move to peer-to-peer microgrids which by the redundancy of many diverse small energy sources would fill gaps in baseload, reduce the need for redundant large powerplants and losses to electric resistance: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/09/uk-island-micro-grid-wales
Consider alternatives for urban and suburban transit that would on today's grid be the equivalent of 300MPG cars: http://www.jpods.com/
For 24/7 baseload, use offshore wind and concentrated solar thermal: http://www.solarreserve.com/
Not to mention use solar thermal for hot water, a highly affordable approach: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=12850

These are proven solutions with excellent working examples. You can also look at kites: http://ecoble.com/2008/08/26/wind-power-generated-from-kites/ for cheaper material costs or extending power generation to altitudes where the wind is constant, panels of windbelts for smaller-scale solutions as on http://www.humdingerwind.com/ and artificial photosynthesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_photosynthesis

They're also making great strides towards net-positive fusion using lasers: https://www.llnl.gov/str/Petawatt.html

I think the full range of these makes nuclear strictly a question of how to use the remaining nuclear fuel to the fullest extent with less waste left over. I don't understand the enthusiasm for nuclear in the light of the above, or the recent disasters.

The main website for the technology is http://www.humdingerwind.com/ Last press release is almost a year old, and the developer kits which are promised on their website for "middle of 2008" are non-existant. Shame.

Hi,

Thanks for your comments: I've posted this response on another thread, but I'm trying to nip this in the bud, so here it is again. The Windbelt generator as it's currently sized is 10X more efficient than the current state of the art in microturbines on the same size scales. Importantly, this claim is with reference to 'micro'turbines. Definitely not 10X more efficient than turbines on the large scale. Here are some references from a recent article that you can use to do your own due diligence:

http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/Handheld%20windmills%20serve%20as%20electric%20generators.pdf [humdingerwind.com]
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/ApplPhysLett_priya.pdf [humdingerwind.com]

The device noted in these articles (with which I am not affiliated) is the micro-turbine that got a lot of press a few years ago after Nature published a small article about Wind-powered Wi-Fi. I thought this was a good benchmark for comparison purposes.

I do appreciate the hesitation that folks have at first reading the claims. I am absolutely not claiming to have made a "Betz buster". We've used a particular point of reference based on an article in Nature as the "state-of-the-art" in microturbines, and then compared the Windbelt to that reference. Turbines on the large scale have efficiencies slightly higher than the current Windbelt variations we've experimented with in the past. That said, we are presently experimenting with larger scales (1-20W range, 2-3 meter tall belts) which may show different characteristics. Maybe. This is new stuff, and hopefully a lot of folks get their hands into it.

Regardless, as you note, in a rural lighting application, the cost/watt and the entry level price to light something up are the two aspects that matter most, and not the energy efficiency. They are related, definitely, but cost is the name of the game when dealing with these sorts of applications.

I hope this clears things up a bit -- thanks for all your interest, and keep an eye on humdingerwind.com in mid-January 2008, when we plan to post a tech brief of how to make your own Windbelt from scratch. This hopefully will let people do some peer-review on this new technology.

-Shawn Frayne
humdingerwind.com

Hi,

Thanks for your comments: I've posted this response on another thread, but I'm trying to nip this in the bud, so here it is again. The Windbelt generator as it's currently sized is 10X more efficient than the current state of the art in microturbines on the same size scales. Importantly, this claim is with reference to 'micro'turbines. Definitely not 10X more efficient than turbines on the large scale. Here are some references from a recent article that you can use to do your own due diligence:

http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/Handheld%20windmills%20serve%20as%20electric%20generators.pdf [humdingerwind.com]
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/ApplPhysLett_priya.pdf [humdingerwind.com]

The device noted in these articles (with which I am not affiliated) is the micro-turbine that got a lot of press a few years ago after Nature published a small article about Wind-powered Wi-Fi. I thought this was a good benchmark for comparison purposes.

I do appreciate the hesitation that folks have at first reading the claims. I am absolutely not claiming to have made a "Betz buster". We've used a particular point of reference based on an article in Nature as the "state-of-the-art" in microturbines, and then compared the Windbelt to that reference. Turbines on the large scale have efficiencies slightly higher than the current Windbelt variations we've experimented with in the past. That said, we are presently experimenting with larger scales (1-20W range, 2-3 meter tall belts) which may show different characteristics. Maybe. This is new stuff, and hopefully a lot of folks get their hands into it.

Regardless, as you note, in a rural lighting application, the cost/watt and the entry level price to light something up are the two aspects that matter most, and not the energy efficiency. They are related, definitely, but cost is the name of the game when dealing with these sorts of applications.

I hope this clears things up a bit -- thanks for all your interest, and keep an eye on humdingerwind.com in mid-January 2008, when we plan to post a tech brief of how to make your own Windbelt from scratch. This hopefully will let people do some peer-review on this new technology.

-Shawn Frayne
humdingerwind.com

Hi,

Thanks for your comments: I've posted this response on another thread, but I'm trying to nip this in the bud, so here it is again. The Windbelt generator as it's currently sized is 10X more efficient than the current state of the art in microturbines on the same size scales. Importantly, this claim is with reference to 'micro'turbines. Definitely not 10X more efficient than turbines on the large scale. Here are some references from a recent article that you can use to do your own due diligence:

http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/Handheld%20windmills%20serve%20as%20electric%20generators.pdf
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/ApplPhysLett_priya.pdf

The device noted in these articles (with which I am not affiliated) is the micro-turbine that got a lot of press a few years ago after Nature published a small article about Wind-powered Wi-Fi. I thought this was a good benchmark for comparison purposes.

I do appreciate the hesitation that folks have at first reading the claims. I am absolutely not claiming to have made a "Betz buster". We've used a particular point of reference based on an article in Nature as the "state-of-the-art" in microturbines, and then compared the Windbelt to that reference. Turbines on the large scale have efficiencies slightly higher than the current Windbelt variations we've experimented with in the past. That said, we are presently experimenting with larger scales (1-20W range, 2-3 meter tall belts) which may show different characteristics. Maybe.

Perhaps needless to say, in a rural lighting application, the cost/watt and the entry level price to light something up are the two aspects that matter most, and not the energy efficiency. They are related, definitely, but cost is the name of the game when dealing with these sorts of applications.

I hope this clears things up a bit -- thanks for all your interest, and keep an eye on humdingerwind.com in mid-January 2008, when we plan to post a tech brief of how to make your own Windbelt from scratch. This hopefully will let people do some peer-review on this new technology.

-Shawn Frayne
humdingerwind.com

Hi,

Thanks for your comments: I've posted this response on another thread, but I'm trying to nip this in the bud, so here it is again. The Windbelt generator as it's currently sized is 10X more efficient than the current state of the art in microturbines on the same size scales. Importantly, this claim is with reference to 'micro'turbines. Definitely not 10X more efficient than turbines on the large scale. Here are some references from a recent article that you can use to do your own due diligence:

http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/Handheld%20windmills%20serve%20as%20electric%20generators.pdf
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/ApplPhysLett_priya.pdf

The device noted in these articles (with which I am not affiliated) is the micro-turbine that got a lot of press a few years ago after Nature published a small article about Wind-powered Wi-Fi. I thought this was a good benchmark for comparison purposes.

I do appreciate the hesitation that folks have at first reading the claims. I am absolutely not claiming to have made a "Betz buster". We've used a particular point of reference based on an article in Nature as the "state-of-the-art" in microturbines, and then compared the Windbelt to that reference. Turbines on the large scale have efficiencies slightly higher than the current Windbelt variations we've experimented with in the past. That said, we are presently experimenting with larger scales (1-20W range, 2-3 meter tall belts) which may show different characteristics. Maybe.

Perhaps needless to say, in a rural lighting application, the cost/watt and the entry level price to light something up are the two aspects that matter most, and not the energy efficiency. They are related, definitely, but cost is the name of the game when dealing with these sorts of applications.

I hope this clears things up a bit -- thanks for all your interest, and keep an eye on humdingerwind.com in mid-January 2008, when we plan to post a tech brief of how to make your own Windbelt from scratch. This hopefully will let people do some peer-review on this new technology.

-Shawn Frayne
humdingerwind.com

Hi Damon,

I'll try to nip this in the bud, since I've noticed this misunderstanding about the efficiency claims on some other threads. The Windbelt generator as it's currently sized is approximately 10X more efficient than the current state of the art in microturbines on the same size scales. Importantly, this claim is with reference to 'micro'turbines. Definitely not 10X more efficient than turbines on the large scale. Here are some references from a recent article that you can use to do your own due diligence:

http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/Handheld%20windmills%20serve%20as%20electric%20generators.pdf
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/ApplPhysLett_priya.pdf

The device noted in these articles (with which I am not affiliated) is the micro-turbine that got a lot of press a few years ago after Nature published a small article about Wind-powered Wi-Fi. I thought this was a good benchmark for comparison purposes.

I do appreciate the hesitation that folks have at first reading the claims -- I am absolutely not claiming to be a "betz buster". We are using this particular point of reference noted in Nature as the "state-of-the-art" in microturbines, and then comparing the Windbelt to that reference. Turbines on the large scale have efficiencies slightly higher than the current Windbelt variations we've experimented with in the past. That said, we are presently experimenting with larger scales (1-20W range, 2-3 meter tall belts) which may show different characteristics. Maybe.

I hope this clears things up a bit -- thanks for all your interest, and keep an eye on humdingerwind.com in mid-January 2008, when we plan to post a tech brief of how to make your own Windbelt from scratch. This hopefully will let people do some peer-review on this new technology.

-Shawn Frayne
humdingerwind.com

Hi Damon,

I'll try to nip this in the bud, since I've noticed this misunderstanding about the efficiency claims on some other threads. The Windbelt generator as it's currently sized is approximately 10X more efficient than the current state of the art in microturbines on the same size scales. Importantly, this claim is with reference to 'micro'turbines. Definitely not 10X more efficient than turbines on the large scale. Here are some references from a recent article that you can use to do your own due diligence:

http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/Handheld%20windmills%20serve%20as%20electric%20generators.pdf
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/ApplPhysLett_priya.pdf

The device noted in these articles (with which I am not affiliated) is the micro-turbine that got a lot of press a few years ago after Nature published a small article about Wind-powered Wi-Fi. I thought this was a good benchmark for comparison purposes.

I do appreciate the hesitation that folks have at first reading the claims -- I am absolutely not claiming to be a "betz buster". We are using this particular point of reference noted in Nature as the "state-of-the-art" in microturbines, and then comparing the Windbelt to that reference. Turbines on the large scale have efficiencies slightly higher than the current Windbelt variations we've experimented with in the past. That said, we are presently experimenting with larger scales (1-20W range, 2-3 meter tall belts) which may show different characteristics. Maybe.

I hope this clears things up a bit -- thanks for all your interest, and keep an eye on humdingerwind.com in mid-January 2008, when we plan to post a tech brief of how to make your own Windbelt from scratch. This hopefully will let people do some peer-review on this new technology.

-Shawn Frayne
humdingerwind.com

The website says there will be kits in the near future, probably most useful for middle school science fair projects and so on:

http://www.humdingerwind.com/kits.html