Good Vibrations Promise Cheap Wind Power

[victomofreality]

[citation][nom]tomtompiper[/nom]The more efficient they make it the cooler and quieter it will become, heat and noise are caused by wasted energy.[/citation]

ummm no... there is almost no heat generated by wind energy and noise isn't a waste of energy... the drag and friction that are responsible for generating the heat and noise are what needs to be cut down for efficiency.

 

[kikireeki]

Well good vibrations can generate a lot of good things!

 

[geof2001]

Good Vibrations is a sex toy shop in the SF area. I was seriously confused reading that headline.

 

[Guest]

I like that the dude is sitting next to a fan..

"Look just plug in your fan, put it on high power, point it at this little devise and there we go! Renewable energy! Any questions?"

"What about the electricity that powers the fan?"

"Next question?"

The sad part? I bet the gov't gives this guy a billion in tax dollars to build prototypes that never see production...

 

[fracture]

[citation][nom]gwellin[/nom]This has to be one of the dumbest comments I've read on Toms in a while. This technology isn't designed to power a tripple SLI gamming rig in the middle of the ocean. It is designed produce 100 watts to trickle charge a battery source of some kind, or auto transfered into the existing power of a building to reduce the overall cost from the electrical company. I love how nieve people assume that this technology should somehow instantly replace all the outlets in their parents basement allowing them to pay less rent to said parents when they should have already moved out 12 years ago. Expand your imagination on the possibilites of what this technology can do and you will be impressed. Try to look outside of your tunnel vission.[/citation]

Yours was dumber.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

very cool stuff if practical versions can be developed.

 

[albion000]

Dude's sitting next to a fan to show generation on demand. The wind is not generally available inside at speeds approaching 13 mph. Do you expect to put these indoors, or have them generating at all times? C'mon.

 

[caparc]

That's yesterday's news and so is the Chevy Volt. I'm going to blow everybody out of the water with this little honey. http/www.thumbpower.net/images/windcar.jpg I'll be RICH!

 

[bayouboy]

As an engineer, I need to ask the obvious question. You title the article "Good Vibrations Promise Cheap Wind Power". Okay, how cheap? What price per KW/h are we looking at here? The article doesn't say how much these units cost compared to their power output. Fixed costs of dollar per KW/h and operating costs are the only important numbers when it comes to MW scale power production. So, fill me in. Nothing here looks cheap or expensive to me, and, in fact, I can't determine if this is a cheap source of generating electricity or not. I don't understand the title of your article at all!

 

[anamaniac]

[citation][nom]husker[/nom]No, it is correct.6m/s = 6 meters per second13mph = 13 miles per hour[/citation]
If you're going to use the metric system, you may as well do it the Canadian way.
6 metres per second.

 

[caparc]

[citation][nom]bayouboy[/nom]Okay, how cheap? What price per KW/h are we looking at here?[/citation]The device is a curiosity, a toy. Unfortunately so are the 400' tall ones. There are efforts to bring windmills into to my rural neighborhood. It's a sad thing to watch the community and friendships being torn apart by the disagreements over them. This little gaget is the most useful wind energy device I've seen. At least it's good for a laugh.

 

[FilthPig2004]

The link in the article says that the cost of a 1 sq. meter panel is $1/watt, not $1. So the panel costs $100.

 

[Burodsx]

So if I put this thing in front of a strong fan I wonder if I could have a permanent fan in the house? That would really be neat.

 

[phano300]

I'm thinking that these units could be used to recycle the "wind" generated from a desktop's case fans and power supply (I have no way of testing the actual speed generated by these fans so this can only be a non-educated response).

 

[caparc]

[citation][nom]Burodsx[/nom]So if I put this thing in front of a strong fan I wonder if I could have a permanent fan in the house? That would really be neat.[/citation]
Brilliant, a pertetual motion machine. You're going to be rich!

[citation][nom]phano300[/nom]I'm thinking that these units could be used to recycle the "wind" generated from a desktop's case fans and power supply (I have no way of testing the actual speed generated by these fans so this can only be a non-educated response).[/citation]To capture any of the energy from those fans you'd end up creating some backpressure meaning the fans would not cool the computer as effectively.