Top Posts, the Lemming,
and Other Stuff

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Wow! A Flying Serpant [!] - Cool, Green, and Really New

"Sky Serpant - Cheaper And More Efficient"
DoSci (May 15, 2008)

"There is no point to remind you of the fact that fossil fuels are harming our planet and we need new and efficient ways to produce clean energy. A great way to generate energy is to use the force of the wind, but conventional wind turbines are big and expensive, without mentioning that wind farms are the same - the size of small cities and the costs are huge.

"Everything is too big therefore Doug Selsam decided to think small and came up with the Sky Serpant which is based on small rotors that use the wind power to generate energy. He says that 'the wind-turbine design out there right now is a thousand years old' and his multi-rotor approach is much better...."


(from DoSci, used w/o permission)

I guess the alternative spelling of "serpent" is part of a brand name. Okay.

This is an innovative design - and worth looking at.

What struck me first, though, was what could happen to the rotors - and anything they touch - when the wind starts changing direction.

I grew up in the Red River Valley of the North, and live in central Minnesota. Around here, it's not at all unusual for a strong wind from one direction die down, start again in gusts, then whip around to another direction.

A kite-tail of rotors like that would have to be on a tall tower, to avoid slicing and dicing whatever (or whoever) was on the ground. Even then, the string of spinning rotors would routinely hit the tower.

On the up side, technicians ordered to approach the things could demand hazardous duty pay.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment!