Blowin' in the Wind - Art Meets Function

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Created on Saturday, 28 January 2012 17:47

Written by Maria Tadd

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What if unsightly, noisy turbines could be replaced by a work of art?

Most of us have probably seen wind turbines, tall poles with large metal “fans”. They can be placed near urban areas, or out in the country where large clusters, known as wind farms provide energy to hundreds if not thousands of local residents, or off shore.

The acceptance of wind turbines in the US has not been embraced easily. Some would argue that they are noisy and they destroy the landscape or view, which is the prevailing argument against the use of off-shore turbines off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts ― a battle which has gone on for many years. Furthermore, opponents say they are hazardous to birds and bats. I’d argue that most animals are pretty smart, bats in particular, so even though some animals may be destroyed when the turbines are first installed, I’d imagine that birds would learn to avoid them over time and that the benefits of providing clean energy clearly outweigh the risks. If the choice is wind turbines (not so different from how cell towers impact the landscape) vs. fracking, well, that’s a no brainer.   However, there soon may be another option – one that is an art form that also harnesses the energy from the wind, a form that enhances the beauty of the landscape.

Instead of blades, a New York design firm, Atelier DNA, has come up with a concept that uses stalks. “Resembling thin cattails, the Windstalks generate electricity when the wind sets them waving. The designers came up with the idea for the planned city Masdar, a 2.3-square-mile, automobile-free area being built outside of Abu Dhabi.”

In the proposal, the area covered by the Windstalk wind farm produces the same amount of electricity as an equivalent sized conventional wind turbine farm. Unlike wind turbines, the Windstalks are very efficient as there is no friction loss associated with systems which are more mechanical.

Since wind isn’t constant the designers have created two large chambers below the whole site which will work like a battery to store energy ― a feature that turbine wind farms don’t have. Yes, this is still just a concept, but my, what an ingenious and beautiful alternative to turbines. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I highly recommend that you visit http://news.discovery.com/tech/wind-power-without-the-blades.html where you can also learn more about the project.

And now for some interesting facts about which countries are producing the greatest amount of wind power.

Many European countries are heavily invested in wind turbines – the leaders being Denmark, Germany, and Spain.

The country which produces the greatest number of gigawatts (GW) is China, 45 GW followed by the US which produces 40 GW. Next is Germany which produces 27 GW which accounts for 9% of Germany’s total energy generation. Surprisingly Spain produces 21 GW which satisfies 16% of Spain’s electricity demands. Another surprise is India, a relatively poor country, but nonetheless it has the 5th largest wind power capacity in the world. Its 14 GW account for 1.6% of the country’s power. Italy, France, the UK, Canada, and Denmark round out the ten largest wind energy producers. Although Demark is ranked 10th, it is a small country (population 5.5M, less than NC’s) so its wind power production per capita tops the list. In 2008, wind power in Denmark provided 18.9% of electricity production and 24.1% of generation capacity.

In the US, we have a lot to learn from our European allies. Just imagine if 20% of our power needs were met by wind turbines or the newly developed concept, Windstalks. The US is one of the windiest countries in the world – we need to take greater advantage of this natural resource.

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