Slashdot Mirror
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine With Push and Pull
Sterling D. Allan writes "After 10 years of prototyping, wind tunnel testing, patenting, and tweaking, Ron Taylor of Cheyenne (windy) Wyoming is ready to take his vertical axis wind turbine into commercial production. Design creates pull on the back side contributing to 40%+ wind conversion efficiencies. Because it spins at wind speed, it doesn't kill birds, and it runs more quietly. It also doesn't need to be installed as high, and it can withstand significantly higher winds (can generate in winds up to 70 mph, compared to ~54 mph tops for propeller designs). Generating costs estimated at 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, putting it in the lead pocket-book-wise not just of wind and solar, but of conventional power as well. Production prototype completion expected in 5-7 months."
does anyone really know how many birds those propellers actually kill?
As a better question - Why does anyone care?
Stupid birds fly into things. We call that "evolution". The birds without the sense to avoid rapidly moving blades die, the ones with a bit more brains survive, to produce offspring with the sense to avoid giant poultry-processors-of-death.
We haven't banned cars, picture windows, or electric lines yet - Why such a fuss over a technology that has the potential to substantially reduce our dependance on foreign oil (no, not a complete solution, but a damned fine start)?
Also, the turbines are noisy as hell
Not the newer ones, and not from 300+ feet below. Still not exactly silent (certainly noisy enough to scare away any bird with a few grams of grey matter), but then, have you ever stood the same distance from a gas-fired reserve power station? A HELL of a lot louder... Not that the relative volume completely exonerates wind turbines, but it certainly makes "too loud" a far less valid criticism.