A Dutch company has launched a new type of wind turbine that is small enough to fit onto the roof of a house. The turbine looks like a Nautilus shell, and their website explains how it works:
Most today's wind turbines require that a difference in pressure between the front and the rear side of the rotor blades be maintained in order to be effective. However, this difference in pressure also has a negative effect called "drag".
Our turbine rotor captures the kinetic energy of the wind due to its speed, and, by reversing the wind and reducing it to almost zero Beaufort converts it into mechanical energy. By doing this the wind speed's effect (in kinetic energy) on the rotor is maximized and "lift" is obtained by the wind's acceleration over the rotor plane.
(Score: 1) by speps on Monday June 02 2014, @07:07PM
This is not really the first time I've heard about wind turbines in urban areas.
I've seen a couple in Birmingham (UK), here is a picture : http://www.flickr.com/photos/39415781@N06/4636522006 [flickr.com]
I have no idea who made those but I remember seeing them turn very fast on a non windy day.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday June 02 2014, @10:41PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford