Focus on Energy & Renewables: Wind Turbines - A Change in Direction
Tue 18 Aug 2009
The Renewable Energy market is already big business, this much we know. We also know that energy captured via wind turbines is currently growing by 30% year on year and like all forms of new technology the development of turbines faces many challenges.
Our demand for power never ceases and in our quest to find more sustainable sources we are faced with the challenge of maximising the capabilities of our current methods of producing this power. So, can we change the face of wind power to ensure the maximum efficiency? Can we make sure maximum wind is harnessed in the most cost effective and efficient manner? The answer is yes, you simply have to look at things differently… vertically to be precise.
There are a variety of wind turbines currently in use across the globe, ranging from 30ft high domestic use turbines to largest turbines in Laasow, Germany standing 673 feet high. Designs differ somewhat, as do the mechanicals behind them, but there is one thing they commonly share: shape.
The majority of operational turbines across the world use three blades facing the wind horizontally, somewhat like a windmill, known as HAWT (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine). Simple, effective, tried and tested. The perfect design some might say. But is it?
There are a variety of new prototypes being developed across the world, most of which are challenging the way we have historically farmed wind energy. They do so with vertical “blades” as opposed to horizontal with remarkable advantages. They can be produced more cheaply, are more efficient, they are smaller (and hence less obtrusive and easier to erect) and can be placed closer together, creating greater harvesting potential in a smaller area.
Some are really quite pretty too, thus overcoming perhaps one of the other main obstacles in the industry; that of being considered by some as a blot on the landscape.
So can we expect to see more turbines sprouting out of the hills and perhaps even cities in the coming years? Undoubtedly. But you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled as they may be mistaken for pleasant architecture or even sculpture, elegantly hiding their true purpose – to deliver energy as pure as the air we breathe.