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