Some eco-engineers are thinking large. Britain's aero-engineer, Theo Bird, sure is no small thinker. His Aerogenerator design is 475 feet tall (144m). It rotates on a vertical axis like some giant television antenna. It would be built offshore in some of the most ferocious seas on the globe. Using a design like Bird's could make reaching the government's wind power target much easier to accomplish, with thousands fewer turbines.
Implications - Bird has noted that the wind turbines seen in many fields today have their generators and gearboxes at the very top of the tower. He states that this makes it a lot harder to access them and also costs a lot more money. His new idea could prove to be both eco-friendly and cost efficient.
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Aerogenerator
Trend Themes
1. Vertical-axis Wind Turbines - Large-scale, cost-efficient wind turbines that utilize a vertical-axis design.
2. Offshore Wind Energy - Leveraging wind power in the world's toughest ocean conditions via aerogenerator infrastructure.
3. Sustainable Energy Solutions - Innovative, eco-friendly infrastructure solutions for meeting global energy demands.
Industry Implications
1. Renewable Energy - Developing and deploying renewable-energy technology to expand wind-power capacity.
2. Aerospace Engineering - Applying principles of aero-engineering and other advanced technologies to upgrade wind turbine infrastructure.
3. Construction and Engineering - Building and maintaining large-scale wind turbines utilizing vertical-axis design, particularly for offshore locations.