1. Sustainability Problem: Conventional wind turbines pose negative environmental impacts due to scale and cannot be used for distributed generation.
Category: Energy
2. Technology: Vortex Bladeless Wind Turbines
Conventional wind turbines are up to 300 meters tall and weigh up to 400 tons. The material and space required for a conventional wind farm pose a negative environmental impact. The large blades have been known to harass local bird populations and make noise that is disruptive to surrounding communities. A Spanish company called Vortex Bladeless has developed a compact, bladeless wind turbine to solve these problems.
- Vortex Bladeless turbines generate power through the centripetal vibrations of wind rather than the turning of blades.
- Vortex Bladeless turbines require fewer materials to manufacture.
- Vortex Bladeless turbines require no oil and less maintenance.
- Vortext Bladeless turbines make no noise and are safe for birds.
- Vortex Bladeless turbines are significantly smaller than conventional turbines and can be used for distributed generation as an alternative to solar panels.
3. Organizational Stakeholders:
- Consumers of distributed generation
- Communities with distributed generation
- Electrical grids that permit distributed generation
- Wind farms
- Neighbors of wind farms
4. Deployment:
- Distribute Vortex Bladeless wind turbines to households that have distributed generation to use in addition to, or in place of, solar panels
- Supplement or replace commercial wind farms with Vortex Bladeless wind turbines
- Supply electrical grids with low impact wind generation
Source:
Frangoul, Anmar. The Future of Wind Turbines Could be Bladeless. CNBC. September 29, 2017. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/29/the-future-of-wind-turbines-could-be-bladeless.html
One of the problems with this new technology is that it has a conversion efficiency of 70%, while conventional wind turbines are already near 90% efficiency. According to Vortex, the significant reductions in manufacturing and maintenance costs will outweigh the efficiency losses.
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[…] 5) Comment: Bladeless Wind Turbines of the Future “One of the problems with this new technology is that it has a conversion efficiency of 70%, […]
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