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Wind Power
Portable LiDAR unit boosts windfarm evaluation
By Loz Blain
May 31, 2007 Wind farm planning and development will benefit from a deal just signed to market a portable LiDAR unit capable of accurately measuring wind speeds at heights of up to 150m. Designed and built by defense specialists QinetiQ, the unit will be brought to the market by Scottish consultancy Natural Power. It will be a key tool in the evaluation of prospective wind farm sites. Read More
The World’s largest wind farm receives UK government backing
By Mike Hanlon
December 21, 2006 A plan to build the world’s largest wind farm 20 km off the Kent coast in the United Kingdom, has been given Government approval for its offshore planning applications. If built, the 1,000MW wind farm will include 341 turbines, cover 90 square miles and generate enough electricity to power 750,000 homes - a quarter of Greater London’s households. The consent for the onshore substation, necessary to connect the UKP1.5 billion London Array into the national grid, will now be subject to a Public Inquiry. When it becomes operational, the renewable energy project would displace 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year - enough to fill the bowl at the new Wembley Stadium 910 times. Read More
The first energy-autonomous vehicle
By Mike Hanlon
October 2, 2006 There is no doubt that if you rated all the automotive companies in the world on their forward thinking and commitment to commercialising new concepts in sustainable mobility, Monaco-based Venturi would win by a country mile. The company which produced the world’s first available electric sportscar (see articles here here and here), recently announced it would partner with Intel to make energy sharing possible via the Venturi Fetish platform and now it has debuted the first energy-autonomous vehicle and despite its non-traditional appearance, production has already begun. The urban 3-seater electro-solar vehicle named the Eclectic goes well beyond anything previously offered by car manufacturers, being the first vehicle powered entirely by renewable energies, the first solar production vehicle and the first car that can be directly recharged with a personal wind turbine. A limited run of 200 vehicles will be available in June 2007 at a price of EUR24,000. The company is shooting for an even higher level of production from 2009 at an estimated base price of EUR15,000. Innovative and astonishing, Eclectic is much more than a simple vehicle ; it is a production and storage plant for renewable energies, either solar or wind based. Charging of these energies, which is intermittent in certain regions, can also be complemented by electrical recharging. Read More
MIT designs giant wind turbines for use at sea
By Mike Hanlon
September 20, 2006 In a flash of the blinding obvious, MIT researchers have once again taken a simple concept and applied liberal lashings of leading edge science and common sense – take the wind turbines that everyone complains about and move them a hundred miles out to sea, where the winds are strong and steady and no-one can see them. The proposed deep water floater-mounted turbine design would be enable much larger turbines than currently in use by land or shallow-water turbines Read More
rob yates
- November 26, 2009 @ 12:49 UTC
