Good Vibrations Promise Cheap Wind Power

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bustapr

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I want to know the instuctions on how to make the little one at home. Itll be an interesting timekiller and its a good idea.Still wished the big one would generate more power but, its cheap and it looks cool. I wonder how much construction will cost.
 

Onus

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Now that's cool; basically running a buzzer in reverse. I wonder how well it scales; what would a megawatt installation look (and sound) like?
 

Tomtompiper

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[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]Now that's cool; basically running a buzzer in reverse. I wonder how well it scales; what would a megawatt installation look (and sound) like?[/citation]

The more efficient they make it the cooler and quieter it will become, heat and noise are caused by wasted energy.
 

HibyPrime

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I'd imagine a MW installation would look like a huge array of wide ladders, with the steps being the magnetic vibration thing...

You can bet it would end up fairly loud, but I imagine the sound would just be a hum type sound, so it wouldn't be too intrusive.
 
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If they could be made sturdy enough, imagine these lining the walls of highway dividers in high traffic areas, plenty of "wind" generated by the traffic
 

dark_lord69

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"...will produce 100 watts..."
Yeah, but you'd need 10 of those to power a PC with some real muscle. I'd be more excited if it produced more electricity...
On the other hand they are small enough that they could but an outlet on these things and let the general public buy it and just plug something into it on a windy day.
 

Rancifer7

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Although the power produced per unit ins't amazing, they are small can you can put them practically anywhere. and they appear MUCH less intrusive than turbines!
 

jellico

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[citation][nom]dark_lord69[/nom]"...will produce 100 watts..."Yeah, but you'd need 10 of those to power a PC with some real muscle. I'd be more excited if it produced more electricity...On the other hand they are small enough that they could but an outlet on these things and let the general public buy it and just plug something into it on a windy day.[/citation]

I know exactly what you mean. I like the innovation, but I'm still waiting and hoping for the next big breakthrough in energy generation technology. Something along the lines of zero-point energy, or fusion, or even just self-sustaining hydrogen production from seawater.

That's my biggest problem with the whole "alternative energy" movement. People go on and on about needing to break our dependence upon foreign oil, and fossil fuels in general... great, I agree and am all for that. Problem is that we don't have that technology yet. Wind, solar, biofuels, etc. are a bust. They simply don't produce enough power. The United States currently consumes 20 million barrels of oil per day! That's 840 million gallons per day! That doesn't even include coal usage. The only way we're going to move past that is with a revolutionary new technology. A merely evolutionary technology just won't cut it.
 

gwellin

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[citation][nom]dark_lord69[/nom]"...will produce 100 watts..."Yeah, but you'd need 10 of those to power a PC with some real muscle. I'd be more excited if it produced more electricity...On the other hand they are small enough that they could but an outlet on these things and let the general public buy it and just plug something into it on a windy day.[/citation]


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.
 

husker

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[citation][nom]kipsus[/nom]"(6m/s or 13mph)" this looks like a typo[/citation]
No, it is correct.
6m/s = 6 meters per second
13mph = 13 miles per hour
 

MxM

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Can you imagine the noise if we actually start using it in the cities? It will be like a bee hive only 100 times louder!
 
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