A different angle entirely

The complaints about wind turbines tend to focus on their presumed unsightliness and their Cuisinart-like impact on passing birds. A firm called Terra Moya Aqua Inc. has responded with a 90-degree turn: TMA's new turbine spins on a vertical axis, which allows for a lower tower and which birds don't seem to notice.

Even better, mounting the blades in a plane parallel to the ground apparently causes a lift effect on the back side to supplement the push effect on the front, which means, says TMA, at wind speeds above 5 mph, the turbine actually turns slightly faster than the wind.

If this thing works at all, and I can't think of any particular reason why it shouldn't, it might eventually supersede more conventional windmills, though I expect that the two types will coexist for a while — at least, until TMA's patents run out.

(Via Mister Snitch!)

Posted at 7:50 AM to Entirely Too Cool