Wind energy has been considered traditionally as both cumbersome and ungainly with the way in which it needs to be tapped into. Giant windmills and large wind turbines are deemed unfit for modern cities as they are a both a physical obstruction and not profitable enough as an investment. But modern designers have amalgamated design with energy savvy methods to create sleek and sexy wind turbines that are blowing away traditional perception of wind energy. Here is a look at the 10 best modern wind turbines that take clean energy forward in a classy and silent fashion.

1. Energy Ball

The perfect wind turbine for the modern world, Energy Ball works on the principle of the Venturi Effect. Making use of the change in fluid pressure at different points to produce motion, it acts a lot more effectively than wind turbines and is a lot more quiet and adept for city life. The wind turbine can be put on your roof or in your backyard, and it will start immediately producing energy. Silent and effective- Energy Ball surely is the charmed prince of the new millennium’s turbine world.

2. Helix Wind Turbine

The design of Helix defies the conventional design of wind turbines. Its curved body and effective new design make it perfect for your modern home even in terms of style and ergonomics. Helix Wind Turbine is an elegant solution for home and small business owners. Powerful enough to supply your needs yet harmonious with the environment, the strength of the wind is captured by our unique and highly efficient vertical blade design. Truly modern!

3. Helical Structure for the Future World

These futuristic helical structures are designed by Asia Alliance Base, and are simple and compact offering a fluid mechanism to capture and generate energy from winds that go waste atop many roofs in cities across the planet. The structure also seems good for desert lands where low land winds also produce sustained and substantial energy. The helical blades of these Space Age Turbines offer both safety and efficiency.

4. Mini- Stylish Wind Turbine Charger

The Mini might not be a giant among the wind turbine domain but surely is a lot more practical than most other designs. This neat mini wind turbine charger is small enough to hold in your hand or attach to a bike. It needs only 9mph of wind to start charging the internal battery, which can then be used to charge many devices, such as mobile phones, digital cameras and iPods. If you are looking for a clean way to charge up your iPhone, then the Mini is here for you.

5. Selsam Super turbines to tame the rough waves!

If you took one look at the Selsam wind turbines and thought that they were some thorny desert plant that has been used to decorate a ship or some radar emitting signals, then it would be hard to fault you. These flexible futuristic wind turbines are shaped in a way to utilize wind power to the fullest on the rough seas. Apart from being flexible, they are completely submersible and hence can withstand even the toughest of storms. Selsam’s design and style makes them an absolute personal favorite for us.

6. Architectural Wind

Architectural wind is a collection of many turbines that form a small modular wind turbine system. The unique system makes wind power a viable option for urban centers, because it doesn’t require a massive tower. The wind turbines are sleek and low profile so they can be perfectly integrated into new or existing buildings. The design is meant to be shown off, rather than hidden away on the roof. Now you can get eco-friendly and do it in a proud, fashion-conscious way!

7. Philippe Starck wind machine

The design offered by Philippe Starck barely looks like a wind turbine, but this wind machine can apparently produce enough energy to power up to 60% of domestic energy needs. While it is priced at $360, if it indeed provides 60 percent of household energy, then you will reclaim you money in a matter of months- Fine design with great utility.

8. Swift

If pace, efficiency and silent power is what you are looking for then Swift might be the end of your search. This is the first quiet rooftop wind turbine that generates electricity by harnessing the power of the wind providing you a cost effective clean energy source. Swift is a pioneer in its field and one could call it the path-breaker for every other model that you see in this special collection.

9. Broadstar AeroCam

This is anything unlike your traditional windmill design and the AeroCam even functions unlike anything else you have known. It operates on principles first established by the French aeronautical engineer Georges Jean Marie Darrieus (1888-1979), who invented a wind turbine capable of operating from any direction and under adverse weather conditions. Its advantage lies in its ability to automatically and interactively adjust the pitch or angle of wind. Unique and efficient, it surely merits a place on the elite list.

10. Windspire

Windspire turbine from Mariah Power has a propeller-free vertical-axis design, and is expected to produce about 1800 kilowatt hours per year in 11 mph average wind conditions. That amount of wind power is roughly 25% of a typical household’s energy. Unlike the other turbines in the list, this one is 30 feet tall but is still fir for residential use. It does away with the traditional design of blades and is simple and easy to install. But at $ 4000, this is not for those who hate to part with their cash.

There are some of the best wind energy options available today and if you happen to live in a pretty gusty place, you can gladly give them a try. That does it for the Talk Ten for now and we will be back with more cool clean stuff very soon!

The State of California is celebrating the delightful Festival of Roses and the festival surely gets and extra tinge of green with an announcement as major as this one. Biofuel is a major fuel provider and is emerging as a fuel that is here to stay despite all the protests against it. The fuel not only is encouraging researchers to explore new and cheap sources to produce energy from, but is also filling in a crucial gap in the supply chain. The city of SF is now all set to add to that production in a huge way with its new Biodiesel Plant.

The Mayor of San Francisco revealed a proposal between Darling International and the Port of San Francisco to retrofit an old rendering facility to produce biofuel. The new plant will recycle fats, waste grease, and tallow to generate 7.5-10 million gallons of biodiesel per year. San Francisco?s proposed biodiesel plant would be situated within on old rendering facility in the Hunter?s Point district owned by Darling International. Under the plan the facility will be renovated to turn grease waste into useable, sustainable energy.

While no official word is yet out on it, the feeling is that the State will purchase all the fuel produced by the plant to fulfill the energy needs of the Bay area. This will mean more green energy and a decrease in Carbon Footprint and that is something California has been trying hard to achieve.

Via: Inhabitat

We have human-powered bikes, cars, MP3 players and even Gymnasiums and so many across the world are exploring more such avenues where we expend a lot of energy which can be tapped in to. This is truly turning out to be a great concept as we are now turning in to batteries and that is a real good thing. The principle of modern clean energy is that, ‘Energy conserved is Energy produced’. So you when the lights start flickering, the music starts pumping and… Well, I will stop there. The point is when you hit the Dance Club; plenty of energy is wasted on nothing. Not anymore though, as a club in Holland is showing the way.

Rotterdam’s WATT club features a dance floor where the disco lights become more dynamic as patrons get their groove on. The floor even has a meter to show people how much energy they’re producing at any given moment. WATT contains more than just electricity producing dance floor. Drinks are stored in basement tanks to save energy by using a central cooling system and toilets in the club flush with rainwater. The so-called “pee experience” lets patrons watch rooftop rainwater travel through transparent pipes when they flush. How amazingly cool is that? The Loo sounds much better than the club itself!

There is already such a cool green club in London and it apparently also allows customers in for free if they come on foot and do not use carbon-emitting vehicles. Of course, that needs some proving as well. WATT in Rotterdam is following the footsteps of the London based green club. Hopefully there will be more clubs across the world that will join in and have that cool flushing mechanism. Fluid in Motion- Awesome!

Via Cleantechnica

Cow power could emerge as one of the green and renewable energy sources to generate electricity in future. Till now the manure produced by bovine and livestock animals has been used in farms only (that too to a certain extent). But now, it can be used to generate electricity which might meet upto 3 % energy (read electricity) consumption needs of entire North America!

The research being conducted by scientists at University of Texas (Austin) believe the results of it will imply on all countries with a large number of livestock (including India). Production of biogas from cow dung is not a new thing and it has been used in rural India to cook food and for other heating purposes. But this research stresses upon the anaerobic digestion (a process which helps in compost formation) of manure which yields energy-rich bio-gas potent enough to generate electricity by rotating standard microturbines.

In recent times, the interest and efforts in analyzing and using cow waste for studying its effect on climate change, has seen an upward trend. The IPCC reports that nitrous oxide and methane (both are Green House Gases) produced by naturally decomposing livestock manure heat up our atmosphere many times more than what CO2 does! Hence, the panel recommends proper utilization of this livestock manure. The latter if utilized fully could generate approximately 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity (a scenario where the Americans will thank cows profusely for providing resources beyond milk and meat!)

Concerns are raised over the carbon emissions thus procuded by burning of biogas but scientists reassure that, when compared to burning fossil fuels (read coal), burning of biogas leaves a much smaller carbon footprint! Here’s what the scientists- Dr. Michael E. Webber and Amanda D Cuellar, from University of Texas has to say over this: “In light of the criticism that has been leveled against biofuels, biogas production from manure has the less-controversial benefit of reusing an existing waste source and has the potential to improve the environment.”

I’m waiting for the day when bulbs will be lighted by burning of biogas for the latter promises to be an environmentally advantageous and economical energy resource. Hail Cow Power!

Via: sciencedaily

Solar energy undoubtedly is one of the cleaner and greener power sources. But currently, the solar cells which harness the sun’s radiation and convert them into electricity aren’t cheap enough to be utilized at mass scale. Thus, the true potential of this renewable energy still remains to be channeled for the larger benefits of society.

But now, scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have designed a new devise which they say is an efficient and practical solar power device. The latter acts as a solar concentrator and is considered to be a key in making solar energy more affordable in the near future. Scientists at MIT used several glass sheets and coated them with organic dyes to concentrate the sunlight hitting on the solar panes. The organic dyes upon absorption of sunlight emit it onto the glass sheet which in turn carries the light to the edges of the pane following the example of transport of light through fiber-optics. In this solar concentrator, small solar cells are located at the edges of the glass sheets.These cells convert sun’s photons into electricity.

Researches hope that this technology can bring down the cost of running a solar power unit down and much closer to that used by conventional methods of power generation (fossil fuel burning). The current type of solar concentrators available in the market use either lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight. However, in this new solar power device, glass sheets used are light weight and flat shaped. These can be used on roofs or as windows that could generate power for the entire house/ building. This new device is under testing and the final product ready for the market will become available in a couple of years. So far the news itself promises a sustainable tomorrow. I’m waiting when it actually becomes a reality!

Via Enn