WIND POWER WITHOUT THE BLADES: BIG PICS

[MindMover]

Noise from wind turbine blades, inadvertent bat and bird kills and even the way wind turbines look have made installing them anything but a breeze. New York design firm Atelier DNA has an alternative concept that ditches blades in favor of stalks. Resembling thin cattails, the Windstalks generate electricity when the wind sets them waving. The designers came up with the idea for the planned city Masdar, a 2.3-square-mile, automobile-free area being built outside of Abu Dhabi. Atelier DNA’s "Windstalk"project came in second in the Land Art Generator competition a contest sponsored by Madsar to identify the best work of art that generates renewable energy from a pool of international submissions.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/wind-power-without-the-blades.html

[left on green only]

1. Who would have ever thought!

I wonder if it might also be possible to install this type of wind farm in the shallow waters off coastal land?

[kristopher]

11. This concept doesn't work in a practical sense.

You can only harvest the energy that is embodied in the wind. If you have a collection area that is small, you are going to get a small amount of energy per unit. The reason large bladed wind turbines are large bladed wind turbines to to raise them higher off the ground where the wind is stronger and to increase the volume of wind that passes through the collection area.

Small collection area wind concepts work in the sense that they produce electricity, but building any of them would have to be almost free to make it cost effective.

[annabanana]

2. In the comments section!

Randy:

So... as wind energy matures... it grows hair in strange places...

POWER PUBERTY.

(an honorary DUzy for sure)

[valerief]

3. That's quite fabulous. They should build them sprouting from giant ears.nt

[Politicalboi]

4. Looks cool

A lot better that the huge blades. Only thing, is how long will it take skateboarders to take over. LOL!

[eppur_se_muova]

5. This sounds very similar to VIVACE, which has been patented by U Michigan ...

http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/6842

[AtheistCrusader]

6. Here it is again with the date stamp.

http://www.gizmag.com/windstalk-concept/16647/

Anything new?

[Speck Tater]

7. That is SOOOOO cool! nt

[customerserviceguy]

8. While this is only theoretical at this point

I'd sure like to see one built someplace to check out the financial feasibility of it. Existing wind technology is well-known in the cost/benefit ratios, but that's why we do research.

[demosincebirth]

9. Look real good and probably works just fine for a a country that's got 1000 people and money to burn

[jtuck004]

10. Somebody needs to build the damn things. If it works they might sprout like daisies.

I really like how they want to flow liquid around in the base to store and release power.

[AtheistCrusader]

15. It's been two years since the first press release containing those rendered photos.

I'm guessing this one was dead on arrival.

[joshcryer]

12. That design is rendering the ground beneath the farm as mostly useless.

Yes there could be plant life, and it could even potentially cover up the concrete foundations, but I find it to be a waste of space.

[Scuba]

13. That won't work. It doesn't burn any fossil fuels.

sarcasm thingy.

[OKIsItJustMe]

14. Proposal here

It's important to keep in mind that this is intended to be a work of art as much as (if not more than) an energy system:

http://www.landartgenerator.org/blagi/archives/902

[NickB79]

16. I much prefer their suggestion to invert it and use it to harness ocean currents

Though I'd imagine barnacle infestations might negatively impact the rods ability to generate electricity.

[nilram]

18. And with those bases, they could have the most awesome skate park!