Wind energy is one of the exciting areas of alternate energy development. It's cost is dropping down to where it's naturally competitive with "regular" (fossil fuel) systems, and the deployment of large scale wind generation is accelerating.
A turn for the better Wind turbines are ugly and no one wants to live near one. Right? Wrong. Steve Rose on the new architects of spin (Monday July 18, 2005, The Guardian)
Architects of Spin (July 18, 2005 12:20 PM - Lloyd Alter, Toronto)
The turbine in question is kinda turned on its side. Rather than looking like a stick with a propeller, it looks like an "eggbeater" standing upright. There's some good pictures in the articles, so take a look.
The Guardian article wants to say the propeller-on-a-stick designs are ugly ... I happen to think they're beautiful. But this design is more than interesting. One technical advantage is that it doesn't matter which direction is blowing, it'll capture wind from any direction. The propeller-on-a-stick designs are either fixed directional, or you have to design in rotational capabilities. Another technical advantage to this design is that all the moving parts are at the bottom, making maintanence easier.
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