Science

Wind Turbines Are Real Cash-Cows For Residents

It’s usually disheartening to wake up and discover the wind is blowing. But if that wind is proving to be quite the money-spinner, you may feel differently about the huge white objects dotted around the horizon.


May 11, 2011
Science

Super Powerful Wind Turbine Taller Than Washington Monument

Wind blows. And if there’s energy (and money) to be made from this fact of life, we may as well take advantage of it, right? That’s what Vestas is doing – and they’re using the V164-7.0 MW, a massive 187m wind turbine, to do it.


April 29, 2011
Science

Google Wants A Wind Farm Stretching Down The US East Coast

For some reason, lots of people hate wind farms – I think they’re rather pretty! – but NIMBY is a powerful, powerful force. So why not stick ‘em far in the breezy sea? Trans-Elect wants to do just that, with Google cash.


February 22, 2011
Gadgets

Playing Chicken With Wind Turbines

What’s the point of owning an RC aeroplane if you’re not going to do something totally irresponsible with it? Like, say, playing chicken with a few wind turbines, coming so close that you clip your antenna in the process.


November 1, 2010
Science

Every Day Is A Fairground Ride For Wind Turbine Engineers

As you stagger into work and slump over your desktop like one of last night’s zombies, engineer Ross Kennedy is having an exhilarating ride atop a 100m-high wind turbine with the best views of Scotland. I’m not jealous… much. [Daily Mail]


October 6, 2010
Science

Life Isn’t Always So Rosy For Green Towns

Initially, they applauded the erection of three wind turbines. Now the inhabitants of Penobscot Bay island, Maine, rue the day the $US15 million wind facility was built a mile from their homes, because of the sheer noise the 37m blades make.


August 27, 2010
Science

The Inconvenient Truth Of Wind Turbine Radar Blackout Zones

The supposedly world-saving wind turbine has been singled out as a potential danger by the military, as the rise of wind farms threatens national security – by creating radar “blackout zones”.


July 29, 2010
Science

The Most Powerful Wind Turbine Looks Like the Weirdest Too

In the future, we will look at these 270m-wide structures in the middle of the ocean and we won’t even blink. But right now, I’m having a hard time imagining them spinning at 20 revolutions per minute.


April 7, 2010

Metal Flower Glows Brighter The Faster The Wind Whistles Past

Erected to highlight an English river’s pollution, this 14m-tall metal flower has dozens of LEDs which glow brighter the more the wind around it increases.


March 16, 2010

The Strata Building Runs On Built-In Wind Power

Form, meet function. The 42-storey Strata Building – also known by its much cooler nickname, “The Razor” – will get 8 per cent of its energy from three wind turbines built into its façade. Hope no one builds a 43-storey building next door.