How to Build a Better Wind Turbine

Those nutty gear-heads at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have wrapped up successful tests on a radical wind-turbine design from FloDesign that promises to wring huge increases in efficiency out of small- to medium-sized turbines, which could be used in places where big turbines dare not tread, like on top of big-box stores or schools.

These lollipop-shaped turbines look like jet engines up on poles. They are much smaller that the massive, propeller-type turbines. That makes sense, because FloDesign has long been working in jet engine design, particularly in noise reduction and fuel efficiency.

Writing in crispgreen.com, the singularly named "Tim" said, "FloDesign has tested a prototype wind turbine based on jet engine technology that is 'three to four times' more efficient than the traditional three-bladed horizontal axis wind turbines. The new design generates as much power as a wind turbine with blades twice as big in diameter."

A 300 to 400 percent increase in efficiency in anything good is a big deal.

We'll spare you the grimy details. Suffice it to say, the things are better in about every way imaginable. The parts are small enough to travel on a flatbed truck. They can make current in far less wind and can be installed in existing wind farms without disrupting the bigger turbines.

A review of the turbines in the MIT Technology Review last year noted that while the efficiency of the design is well demonstrated, the question of whether the company can produce turbines at lower cost with reduced maintenance demands is unresolved.

If you see a big lollipop-looking thing atop your neighborhood grocery store or school soon, you'll know whom to thank for it.

Photo courtesy of aloxe, via Flickr